Poso police seize guns, ammunition and bombs
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.