Three school girls beheaded near Poso

Three school girls beheaded near Poso

Ruslan Sangadji and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Poso/Jakarta

Tension and grief remained heavy in the air in Central Sulawesi's
town of Poso as three female students from a Christian high
school were beheaded Saturday morning by six unidentified
assailants.

The incident occurred as Muslims prepare to celebrate Idul
Fitri in a town that is still struggling to recover fully from
two years of Christian-Muslim battles.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono immediately held an
emergency security meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, top
security officials and ministers to assess the situation in Poso.

"In the holy month of Ramadhan, we are again shocked by a
sadistic crime in Poso that has now claimed the lives of three
school students," he told reporters. "I condemn this barbarous
killing, whoever the perpetrators are and whatever their
motives."

He ordered the security forces to find the killers and
maintain order in the region.

National police spokesman Aryanto Budiharjo said up to six men
in black clothes and masks attacked the students in Bukit Bambu
village as they were on their way to class at the Central
Sulawesi Christian Church (GKST) high school in Poso.

"The perpetrators wore black attire and veils and they used
machetes," he told reporters.

The police said that the information was obtained from a
survivor in the incident, who managed to escape the attack but
suffered wounds to her face.

The victims were identified as Yarni Sambue (15) Interesia
Morangke (16) and Alfita Paulina (19). The survivor has been
identified as Noviana Malewa, who is currently in intensive care
at a nearby hospital.

The bodies of the girls were left at the site of the attack
near a cocoa plantation. The heads were found at separate
locations two hours later by residents, said Adj. Comr. Rais
Adam, the Central Sulawesi Police spokesman.

One of the heads was found near a church.

As word of the heinous murders got around, Poso became
deserted.

National Police Chief Gen. Sutanto flew to Poso on Saturday to
hold a dialog with the local administration and religious leaders
in a bid to help maintain order in the area. Some 400 policemen
were also deployed to reinforce security in the religiously
divided city.

Susilo has also ordered Poso officials to calm
people down to prevent a repeat of the wanton violence that ended
in 2002.

Soon after the news of the decapitations spread, dozens of
residents from nearby Tentena gathered to protest outside the
district police headquarters.

Central Sulawesi was hit by a bloody sectarian war from 2000
to 2002 that killed around 1,000 people.

The conflict ended in early 2002 following a truce, which was
mediated by a government team led by Kalla.

However, sporadic bomb attacks and assassinations continue to
occur in several areas of the province. In May, bombs exploded
at a market in the neighboring coastal town of Tentena, killing
22 people.

Police said the Tentena bombings were the work of militants
with possible links to Jamaah Islamiyah.