Poso police seize guns, ammunition and bombs

Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu, Central Sulawesi

Local police said on Thursday that they had found more weapons and ammunition in the town of Poso, Central Sulawesi.

The find consisted of five homemade firearms, nine bullets and three bombs.

The 5.56-centimeter bullets discovered were produced by state- owned weapons manufacturing company PT Pindad, police officer Adj. Sr. Comr. Aqil Assegaf said.

"We found three guns and nine bullets in an operation at Kawende village in Poso Pesisir subdistrict on March 15," he told The Jakarta Post.

The spokesman for the Poso Police Sintuwu Maroso Operation task force said they also confiscated two more guns in a similar operation a day later on Jl. Pulau Nias in Kayamanya, Poso Kota subdistrict.

In the same raid, three homemade bombs were also found at Lawanga village, Poso Kota, Aqil said.

"The bombs were made from iron pipes equipped with a detonator and nine-volt batteries. They were 14.5 centimeters long."

On Wednesday, police launched a sweep for sharp weapons at Nggawia village, West Tojo, in neighboring Tojo Una-Una regency, where they found a firearm.

"All the arms were found through tip-offs from local people and are currently being held at Poso Police station," Aqil said.

Poso saw two years of sectarian fighting from 2000, during which some 2,000 people were killed and thousands of others fled their homes.

The clashes largely ended after local Muslim and Christian leaders signed the government-sponsored Malino II peace accord in 2002, but sporadic attacks continued in the regency throughout 2003.

Police and local community figures blamed the renewed attacks, which hit both Christian and Muslim neighborhoods, on unidentified gunmen. It was suspected that the attacks were orchestrated in order to destabilize the regency.

To prevent further violence in Poso, the police and military launched joint raids on villages to confiscate any weapons.

Separately, Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Sugianto said on Thursday that security officers were searching for those suspected of attacking six people at Maranatha village, Sigi Biromaru, Donggala regency.

Central Sulawesi Police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Tatang Somantri said officers had identified the attackers.

In the March 11 attack, the perpetrators rode into the village on motorcycles and stabbed six Maranatha villagers, killing two: Nocy, 42 and Alifianus, 27.

Four others -- Nona Listin, 17, Pote, 28, Tinus, 24, and Katunus, 24, -- are being treated for serious injuries.

Police have stationed dozens of officers to guard the predominantly Christian village to prevent any retaliation by residents who were on the alert, armed with traditional weapons.

In January last year, a clash erupted between Maranatha and neighboring mainly Muslim Sidondo village, in which one person was killed, two others seriously wounded and five homes torched.