Four dead in Indonesian clashes
2000-08-11 16:30
Ambon - Indonesian security forces shot dead four Muslims and wounded 16
others on Friday as they tried to keep mobs of Muslims and
Christians apart in the capital of the Maluku islands.
"According to witnesses at the scene of the battle, four Muslim men
died while 16 others were wounded after troops opened fire on the
crowd," a Muslim resident said.
The report of the renewed violence in Ambon, capital of the
strife-torn Malukus, could not be immediately confirmed.
Prior to the shooting, a vociferous Muslim mob gathered in the
Batumerah area after a report that two Christian men had forcibly
taken a motorcycle from a Muslim woman, the resident said.
"A Christian mob also formed across the street and both camps began
to trade insult and later stones," she added.
The bodies of the four victims were immediately taken to Al-Fatah
mosque and the wounded treated at Al-Fatah hospital, said the
resident.
The wounded were "mostly high school students" who had been
watching the battle, she said.
Over 100 armed soldiers and policemen were deployed to stem the
violence.
"I heard a soldier saying on the army radio that the shots were
warning shots to disperse the crowd as some were beginning to show
up with cans of petrol," the resident said.
The two mobs did not disperse but remained separated by the
soldiers.
Despite a state of civil emergency imposed in Ambon since 27 June,
tension between the Muslim and Christian communities has remained
high, with frequent violent clashes. Both sides openly carry
firearms on the streets.
Violence between Christians and Muslims in the Malukus first
erupted in Ambon in January 1999 and quickly spread to other
islands in the Malukus.
In the past 19 months, some 4 000 people have been killed and half
a million have fled their homes. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA