Night curfew descends on Pontianak, 6 killed
Night curfew descends on Pontianak, 6 killed
JAKARTA (JP): Pontianak mayor Buchary A. Rahman declared a
curfew on Thursday night in the violence-stricken capital of West
Kalimantan, following the renewal of interethnic community
clashes.
The curfew, aired on the state-owned television station TVRI,
bans residents from outdoor activities between 9 p.m. until 4
a.m.
As of Thursday evening at least six people had been killed in
the latest eruption of the ethnic violence intermittent since
1997, when hundreds of people died in months of fighting between
indigenous locals and migrant settlers.
Antara reported that two unidentified bodies were found in the
city's Sungai Jawi area and three others near Jl. Pahlawan.
Buchary said the curfew was imposed due to worsening security
conditions, which saw angry residents armed with sharp weapons
take to streets on Thursday and set fire to dozens of houses on
Jl. Tanjungpura and stores at the Flamboyan market, all belonging
to migrant settlers.
Security personnel deployed to the scene did little to stop
the destruction wrought by the angry residents, who later
prevented firemen from fighting the fires.
Smoke was seen in many parts of the city during the violence.
Antara reported that a number of store owners were evacuated.
"This is the only way to avoid bloodshed in the area," said an
official who refused to be named.
Police said at least three people were killed on the second
day of the clashes, but the news agency recorded at least six
fatalities in separate locations, namely Sungai Jawi area, West
Pontianak district, on Jl. Pahlawan.
The clashes also injured at least eight people, who were
admitted to Soedarso Provincial Hospital.
The latest violence came a day after an interethnic clash
occurred over a simple dispute between a migrant bus driver and
an indigenous motorcyclist on Kapuas bridge.
That incident resulted in one man killed and three others
injured.
Security personnel's attempts to control the situation by
blocking major thoroughfares Jl. Tanjungpura, Jl. Perintis
Kemerdekaan and Jl. Imam Bonjol were unsuccessful.
Separately, Pontianak Police Headquarter's spokesman Ass.
Supt. Suhadi S.W. said the police must obtain approval from the
city leaders before they could launch a sweeping operation to
disarm residents.
Military and police reinforcements from local precincts,
Tanjungpura military command and from the National Police, have
been deployed in the area, he added.
Local authorities have been unable to improve the security
conditions and local community leaders were not seen at the
location to calm the angry crowd.
Antara reported that victims of Sambas social unrest that
erupted two years ago had been evacuated from Haj dormitory in
Pontianak to the South Pontianak police subprecinct and several
other camps were guarded by security personnel to prevent
provocations that might worsen the situation. (lup)