Troop reinforcements urged as Italian shot dead in Poso
Troop reinforcements urged as Italian shot dead in Poso
Tasman Banto and Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Palu/Jakarta
A foreign tourist was killed in the renewed violence in Poso
since a peace accord ended a prolonged sectarian conflict there
last December, prompting a plan to deploy reinforcement troops to
the Central Sulawesi town.
Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Zainal Abidin Ishak
asked on Friday the Wirabuana Military Command overseeing
Sulawesi provinces to deploy one battalion of troops to help the
police quell fresh attacks in Poso.
He said his office would also dispatch 200 personnel of the
police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) to restore order.
Lorenzo Taddei, a 34-year old Italian citizen, was shot dead
at 9 p.m. on Thursday by a group of unidentified armed people who
ambushed a public bus at Mayoa village in South Pamona, some 200
kilometers south of Poso.
A 35-year-old traveling companion, Patricia Linossi, was not
injured in the attack, while four other passengers, all locals --
Heronimus Banculu, 36, Timohius Kemba, 52, Karangan, 21, and
Alberting, 45, sustained shotgun wounds.
They are receiving medical attention at the Pendolo health
community center in South Pamona.
A French couple were also among the passengers of the
Batutumonga bus. However, they survived unscathed.
Wirabuana Military Commander Maj. Gen. Amirul Isnaini, a
former chief of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus), said there
were around 50 foreigners staying in Poso on tourist visas for
unclear purposes.
He said Kopassus sent at least 12 intelligence officers to
investigate the presence of the foreigners.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu confirmed on Friday
that there were indications that foreigners were involved in
conflicts in the country's troubled areas, including Poso.
It was not clear, however, whether Lorenzo was one of those.
An official at the Italian Embassy in Jakarta, who declined to
be identified, confirmed on Friday the death of Lorenzo. He
refused to comment further, arguing: "Not everything is clear
yet".
Local police said on Friday that the bus was heading from the
popular tourist resort of Tanah Toraja in South Sulawesi province
to the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu.
When it arrived in Mayoa, the border area between South and
Central Sulawesi, several gunmen suddenly appeared and opened
fire at the bus. The attackers fled the scene quickly.
The Italian tourist was found dead in his seat with shotgun
wounds in the back.
Lorenzo's body was flown at 2:30 p.m. on Friday from Palu to
Jakarta for an autopsy. It will be flown directly to Italy for
burial.
Speaking to journalists after leading a ceremony in Palu to
mourn the Italian's death, Zainal said the gunmen used automatic
weapons in the bus attack.
The provincial police chief confirmed Lorenzo was the first
foreign tourist killed in the conflict-wracked town of Poso since
2000.
Separately, Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr.
Agus Sugianto said he could not confirm the number of passengers
on the attacked bus.
Zainal and Agus said the police were searching for the gunmen
in cooperation with military forces.
It was the fourth attack on passenger buses in Poso since the
peace accord was signed by Muslim and Christian leaders in the
hill resort of Malino, South Sulawesi, eight months ago.
The first ambush was launched on Feb. 6 on an Omega bus,
killing one person and injuring several others.
On June 5, four passengers of an Antariksa bus were killed and
17 others wounded in an ambush also blamed on a group of
unidentified people at Toini village in Poso Pisisir subdistrict.
One month later, a similar attack claimed the life of a young
woman and severely injured four others at Kawua village, four
kilometers from Poso.