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)