Poso attacks carried out by organized group: Police

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The recent terror attacks in Poso, Central Sulawesi, were committed by an "organized group" to trigger fresh sectarian conflict in the area, National Police chief Gen. Sutanto says.

Speaking at a working meeting on Monday with the House of Representatives Commission III on legal affairs at the National Police Headquarters, Sutanto said the group had begun to move its terror attacks to the provincial capital of Palu after authorities beefed up security in Poso.

He did not elaborate on the identity of the group.

On Oct. 29, three Christian schoolgirls were beheaded by six machete-wielding men on motorbikes as they were walking to school in Poso, a religiously-divided town, which saw more than 1,000 people killed during a Christian-Muslim conflict in 2000 and 2001. That conflict ended after a government-sponsored truce.

The attack was apparently aimed at reigniting the conflict, officials have said.

Just over a week after the attack, two female students were victims of a drive-by shooting while sitting in front of a house in Poso.

Since the Oct. 29 attack, police have boosted security in Poso by deploying reinforcements to the area in a bid to prevent renewed clashes and hunt down the perpetrators.

The police so far have named one suspect in the beheading case and three suspects in the shooting incident.

However, last Saturday, a Christian couple were shot in Palu by unidentified attackers while on their way home from a church.

The shooting took place only a day after three teenage girls were attacked by more unidentified assailants in the city. One of them was killed during the attack.

Separately, the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said on Monday the violent attacks in Poso were carried out by an organized group with the code name "Flower Team." However, commission spokesmen Haris Azhar and Erwin Partogi stopped short of revealing the identity of the group and their reasons for the attacks.

Haris and Erwin said the attacks in Poso and Palu had many similar characteristics and were generally carried out around religious or public holidays and local elections.

The pair urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to provide political support for the police to resolve the case and arrest the people behind the "Flower Team."

"The conflict in Poso is similar to mysterious murders in Banyuwangi, East Java during 1998-1999 and in Ciamis, West Java, in 1997-1998," Haris said as quoted by newsportal detik.com.