Poso tense as six killed in Christian village

Poso tense as six killed in Christian village

La Remy and Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Palu/Jakarta

Tensions engulfed the violence-torn town of Poso in Central
Sulawesi on Tuesday after at least six people were killed and
hundreds of houses and two churches set ablaze in fresh attacks
on three Christian villages, just hours after a second round of
peace talks ended.

It clearly proves that the two-day meeting of Muslim and
Christian delegates, which ended on Monday to seek peace in Poso,
was eminently ineffective to quell the violence.

The road to long-lasting peace there appears to have gotten
longer as armed assailants, believed to being carrying automatic
guns, roam the area with impunity, and security authorities claim
to know nothing of their identity or whereabouts.

Following the latest violence, many shops there closed and
local government officials chose to stay at home.

Hundreds of heavily armed police and troops were deployed to
the three attacked villages of Sepe, Silanca and Batu Gencu in
Lage subdistrict after reports of the attacks.

The villages, also home to some 1,000 refugees from other
areas in Poso, are located around 12 kilometers east of the town.

Security authorities in Poso warned locals against being
provoked by irresponsible people as residents in Kanyamanya and
Lawanga villages were on guard outside their houses to prevent
possible attacks.

Five of those killed in Tuesday's violence were identified as
Y. Ombitaka, 60, Eipius Montorutu, 24, Ndolu Sulelino, 31, Sena
Kangea, 32 and Efrata Lagani, 35. All were killed by gunshot
wounds.

At least two other persons were seriously wounded in the
incidents.

Another person, named as Cikia from Malei village also in
Lage, was found dead with gunshot wounds on Tuesday and another
man, Dolelia from the same village, was declared missing and was
feared dead.

Local church officials and security officers said the
attackers were an armed group of unidentified people, who stormed
Sepe, Silanca and Batu Gencu early on Tuesday.

Noldy Tacoh, a secretary with the Crisis Center belonging to
the Central Sulawesi church, however, blamed the attack on police
Mobile Brigade troops and said two churches were also burned in
Silanca.

He said a group of 17 Brimob personnel were responsible for
the attack on Batu Gencu.

The police stormed the village through the neighboring village
of Toyado to seek their fellow Brimob member, Pvt. Andi Amir, who
was reportedly abducted by local residents, Noldy added.

Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Zainal Abidin Ishak,
who visited Poso, denied that his personnel were involved in the
attack.

Yet, he confirmed a number of Brimob members went through
Toyado to search for Amir, who had not been seen since Sunday.
Apparently, they were unable to locate the missing private.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Sugianto, spokesman for the provincial
police, said Batu Gencu was attacked by gunmen after local
villagers rejected a deployment of security forces there.

"As of late Tuesday evening, villagers in Batu Gencu were
refusing to allow the deployment of security personnel and were
blocking all roads leading to the village. To avoid a clash with
these residents, they were pulled back to Poso," he told The
Jakarta Post.

Zainal admitted that the police could not yet identify the
gunmen who launched the attacks.

He said around 3,100 reinforcement personnel from police and
military have been deployed across Poso to help quell the renewed
unrest.

"But we still want one more battalion of troops and two
companies of police stationed here," he said.

Both Muslim and Christian delegations, who concluded the
second round of peace talks on Monday, vowed to work together
along with police and military forces to help restore peace.

The talks, held in the provincial capital of Palu, also agreed
to declare those involved in violence as their "common enemies".

However, they failed to identify or reveal the masterminds or
perpetrators behind the spate of recent attacks, mostly launched
against Christians, to yield progressive measures to stop the
violence.

The delegates had convened their first round of peace talks
last December in the South Sulawesi hill resort of Malino, which
appeared to be effective for a few months to stop the sectarian
fighting.

Meanwhile, CNN reported on Tuesday that an Indonesian
intelligence source had confirmed the presence of an al-Qaeda-
linked training camp in Sulawesi.