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.