Violence at Ambon's Mardika market continues
Violence at Ambon's Mardika market continues
JAKARTA (JP): Violence in the scarred Mardika market in the
Maluku capital of Ambon entered its second day on Sunday after
three were killed on Saturday, Antara reported.
The news agency said that hundreds of people from Batu Merah
and Waihaong villages began throwing petrol and other homemade
bombs at shophouses on Sunday morning. It also said some of the
shops were looted, and security forces were rushed to the area
and fired warning shots to disperse the mob.
The agency added that Sunday's violence erupted when a nearby
church held a mass service.
Antara did not say whether there were any casualties on
Sunday.
It said that at least three people were killed and eight more
were injured on Saturday.
Religious clashes since late July have left more than 100
killed. Thousands have left the city, including ethnic Chinese.
Ambon and other islands in Maluku were hit by months of
Muslim-Christian violence at the start of the year, which left
more than 350 dead, drove tens of thousands to other provinces
and caused massive destruction.
Ambon airport, which was turned over to the military last
week, remained closed to commercial flights.
The city's Yos Sudarso Port is set to reopen on Monday after
hundreds of Muslim refugees, who have occupied the port since
violence resumed in late July, were moved away, Maluku military
commander Brig. Gen. Max Tamaela said on Saturday.
Max said the port would be cleared of refugees by Sunday.
Sea transport activities were moved to the nearby Halong naval
base because of the violence.
Four battalions of reinforcement troops from outside Maluku
have been dispatched to the provincial capital to quell the
violence.
The upsurge in violence has forced more than 34,000 people to
seek shelter at more than 30 locations in and around Ambon,
including mosques, churches and military barracks, and prompted
thousands of others to flee to other provinces.
Meanwhile, clashes in the North Maluku village of Malifut
since Thursday have claimed at least six lives and injured nine
others, Antara reported on Sunday.
It also said that at least 201 homes were set on fire in the
violence and about 500 people had fled to the North Maluku
capital of Ternate and 2,000 others to the nearby town of Kao.
Local authorities said the clash was prompted by discontent
among residents of five villages over a local government plan to
change the administrative status of their villages.
They said villagers attacked residents in the Makian
subdistrict, pelting them with stones, and security forces then
moved in to contain the violence. (byg)