Reinforcement troops arrive in Ambon
JAKARTA (JP): A battalion of reinforcement troops arrived in the Maluku capital of Ambon on Wednesday as violence continued between Muslims and Christians in the riot-torn city, causing at least 15 deaths since Tuesday, witnesses and a local military spokesman said.
Spokesman for the Maluku Military Command Lt. Col. Iwa Budiman told The Jakarta Post by phone on Wednesday that about 450 marines arrived at Pattimura Airport at around 10 a.m.
"They were flown by Hercules airplanes from the Juanda navy air base in Surabaya," Iwa said, adding the marines had been deployed to a number of volatile areas in the city.
The Indonesian Military (TNI) information center said in a statement on Wednesday that the reinforcement troops were sent in response to a request from Maluku Military Commander Brig. Gen. Max Tamaella following clashes on the outskirts of Ambon since Saturday.
Iwa also said that as of 9 p.m. Wednesday at least 15 people had been killed and 123 more injured, including five security personnel.
"Ten people were killed on Tuesday and five more on Wednesday. They died of either bullet or slash wounds," Iwa said.
He also said that as of late Wednesday more than 200 shops and houses, eight cars and 20 pedicabs had been set on fire by the rioters.
"The city is still tense, both 'white' and 'red' groups carrying crude weapons were still seen this morning on Jl. A.Y. Patti," Iwa said, adding that dozens of troops had been deployed there to keep the warring factions from clashing.
Locals have been using "white" and "red" to represent Muslims and Christians respectively. The violence first erupted on Jl. A.Y. Patti on Tuesday when dozens of shops owned by ethnic Chinese were set on fire.
Malik Selang, an activist at the Al-Fatah mosque, said the violence broke out in the area and the nearby street of Sultan Babullah at around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
"The reds were trying to attack the Al-Fatah mosque so the whites came out of the mosque and walked toward them," Malik said, adding that security personnel then fired warning shots to disperse the crowd.
He said security personnel aimed at the crowds as they defied orders to disperse.
He also added that a member of the Mobile Brigade was seen aiming at the crowd from the roof of a building.
Malik said that at least three people were shot dead by security personnel and 22 more were wounded. His account, however, could not be independently confirmed.
Both Muslims and Christians have accused security personnel of taking the other's side.
Meanwhile, Antara reported that mobs set fire to shops and a number of cars on Jl. Latuharhari and Jl. Pahlawan Revolusi and clashes also took place in the Tanah Lapang Kecil area.
Witnesses said shops and businesses remained closed and public transportation was not running. Groups of people carrying sharp weapons were seen on alert and patrolling their own neighborhoods.
"Both sides are also busy dousing fires. We can see burning houses everywhere and gunshots and petrol bomb explosions can still be heard sporadically," a resident said.
Witnesses said thousands of people had fled to nearby mosques, churches and military barracks fearing further violence. They said supplies of kerosene and basic needs were running low.
Iwa said the violence was triggered over the weekend by stone pelting between Muslims and Christians and the torching of several homes in the Poka low-cost housing complex across the bay.
The incident then developed into full-scale riots in the provincial capital on Tuesday, Iwa said.
The Maluku islands have seen months of communal violence, which first erupted in Ambon in mid-January leaving more than 350 dead and a massive trail of destruction.
The weekend violence left at least one man dead, seven injured and about 60 houses burned.
The province has already been reinforced with four additional battalions of troops, or some 2,600 men, and three companies from the elite police Mobile Brigade. (byg/48)