Violence continues in West Kalimantan capital

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan (JP): Violence continued in Pontianak on Monday, with local residents and Madurese refugees engaging in gunfights following Sunday's arson attack on the makeshift houses sheltering refugees in a local sports stadium.

The clashes on Monday took place near the Sutan Syarief Abdurrahman Stadium and on Jl. Purnama.

Antara news agency reported that local residents and refugees, armed with homemade guns and traditional sharp weapons such as mandau (a Dayak traditional weapon) and clurit (a Madurese traditional machete), engaged in running battles.

Neither the security authorities or the local administration commented on the violence.

Two people were reportedly killed in the violence and three others injured. The two bodies were found on Jl. Tanjungpura and on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan.

The news agency also reported that local residents attempted to set fire to the stadium, which houses some 300 Madurese families who fled bloody clashes in early 1999 in Sambas.

Following the clashes, the authorities attempted to evacuate the Madurese refugees, but they refused to be moved, said the chief of the Alam Bhanawanawai Military Command, Col. S. Simanjuntak.

The Madurese refugees were split over the plan to relocate them due to uncertainty over their fate in the new locations.

Meanwhile in Palu, the spokesman for the Central Sulawesi Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Sugiyanto, said the attack on the village of Kawua on Sunday which claimed two lives and left three others seriously wounded was perpetrated by a group from outside the area.

"The armed group came from outside Poso and fled the town shortly after the attack," Agus said, quoting a report from Poso Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Djasman Baso Opu.

During the incident on Sunday, the attackers became involved in a gunbattle with security personnel, but the assailants carried away their wounded and dead, Agus said.

Poso remained tense on Monday, with residents gathering in strategic locations in the town to anticipate any further attacks.

A resident said: "We don't want to be taken by surprise again."

Some 30 gunmen, dressed in black, stormed houses in Kawua village and fired randomly on residents in the early hours of Sunday.

Two people, Army First Sgt. Rudy Ilam and civilian Kuster Lakola, were found dead with gunshot wounds and slash wounds following the attack. (24/emf)