The situation in Donggala, Central Sulawesi, remained tense on

The situation in Donggala, Central Sulawesi, remained tense on
Friday following a bloody attack on a predominantly Christian
village in the regency a day before.

Hundreds of villagers are now guarding the village with
machetes, hand-made guns and spears and everybody who comes into
the area is thoroughly checked.

More than 100 antiriot police were also deployed in the
village in anticipation of further clashes after the incident.

A woman was killed and five others, one in critical condition,
wounded in an attack by unidentified men on Thursday.

Noci, a 40-year-old mother of two, died hours after two
unidentified men slashed her with the machetes, as they passed
her on a motorcycle, while five others were still hospitalized at
the Bala Keselamatan Hospital in Palu, capital of Central
Sulawesi.

Noci, a resident of Maranatha Village suffered lethal injuries
to her head, neck and back.

Maranatha is located in Dolo subdistrict, Donggala regency, 18
kilometers south of Palu, capital of Central Sulawesi.

An eyewitness, Eviyanti, 20, recounted on Friday how she was
horrified when she came upon Noci bleeding terribly and
attempting to crawl toward her screaming baby on the side of the
road.

"I picked up the baby and the four-year old child and I cried
out for help," she said, explaining that she was alarmed by the
screaming baby while sitting on her verandah nearby.

She also said that she saw four men riding Yamaha and Suzuki
motorcycles at a high rate of speed minutes before she heard the
baby shrieking.

Antara news agency reported on Friday that officers at the
Dolo police station said four attackers used machetes to slash
their victims.

Noci's relatives said she was attacked as she was leaving the
house with her two young children to meet her husband for dinner.

They also demanded that the police arrest the attackers and
warned that it would likely snowball into a full-blown sectarian
conflict between Christians and Muslims.

The five wounded victims were identified as Pianus, 18,
Efrain, 30, Kanus, 30, Kalfin, 25, and Listin, 17.

Chief detective Sr. Comr. Tatang Somantri said that the police
were still looking for the attackers and several police officers
were investigating.

He said he did not know whether the attack was linked to
January's deadly clash between the two villages.

A resident of Maranatha was killed and several others hurt
when the village was attacked by Muslims from another village in
January

"I hope Maranatha residents, including eyewitnesses, will be
able to give us more detailed information so we can identify the
attackers," he said.

He also said he was coordinating with the Donggala police to
enhance security at a number of villages in the regency which
were prone to Muslim-Christian battles.