Three shot in Makassar clash between students

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post/Makassar

A third serious brawl in two months involving university students in Makassar turned considerably more violent, after three people suffered gunshot wounds following the latest clash early on Monday.

Rizal, Khaeruddin and Ardi from the School of Letters at the State University of Makassar (UNM) in the Parangtambung area were shot during a clash with students from the School of Engineering.

Rizal was shot in his right thigh, Khaeruddin in his right arm and Ardi in lower back. Witnesses said the shooters were armed with home-made rifles.

The three are now being treated at the Bhayangkara Police hospital, while the police are looking for the students who fired the weapons as well as investigating the clash as a whole, the third since early in July.

A company of 60 police personnel were sent to the campus to conduct patrols and search for weapons among the students. Nobody has been arrested or formally questioned yet.

All academic activities, including pre-registration of new students and payment of tuition fees, continued later on Monday despite the violence.

Rizal said at least 50 students from the School of Engineering suddenly attacked him and a number of his colleagues at the School of Letters who were gathered inside the school's main office on campus around 1 a.m. on Monday. It remains unclear as to what motivated the midnight raid.

"They had guns, sharp weapons, sticks and stones. We tried to fight back. When some of them threatened to burn our office building, I went out to chase them away. But as I went outside one of them shot me," Rizal recounted.

Meanwhile, top university officials met with officials from the School of Engineering, School of Letters and School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences to prevent the ongoing feud from escalating.

UNM deputy rector Abdul Gani said the university leaders had given the police full access to conduct investigations into those involved in the attack.

"Besides the police search, we are now looking for the students ourselves. Any student who is proven to have used a gun in the incident will be dismissed," he said.

Clashes pitting university students against are a common occurrence in the city and around the country.

On July 12, at least five people suffered severe stab wounds and two buildings were burned down after two rival groups from the Indonesian Muslim University clashed over an initiation program for freshmen. The students were armed with swords and arrows during the fight.

A week before, the Makassar police arrested six students and seized molotov cocktails, arrows and machetes in a crackdown on Hasanuddin University students following a brawl that left several students injured and scores of buildings damaged.