Advertisement

Raid in Moluccas Leaves 44 Dead, Indonesia Says

Share
From Associated Press

At least 44 people were killed in an armed raid on a mostly Christian village in the eastern Indonesian province of North Molucca, an army chief said Tuesday.

North Molucca military chief Lt. Col. Sukarwo said suspected Muslim militants attacked the village on Halmahera island before dawn Monday. The attack also injured at least 102 people, he said.

Sukarwo said the military believes that the attackers came from a neighboring island and were members of a Muslim fighting force known as Lasker Jihad, or Holy War Troops. The group recently arrived in the area from Java, Indonesia’s main island.

Advertisement

Monday’s attack was almost identical to a predawn raid last week in the same area that left 34 civilians dead.

North Molucca, 1,600 miles northeast of Jakarta, and Molucca provinces were collectively known as the Spice Islands during the Dutch colonial era. They have been plagued by sectarian violence that erupted 16 months ago. More than 2,500 people have died in clashes since then.

Reports from Ambon, Molucca’s provincial capital, said an additional 17 people were killed Tuesday on Halmahera. Sukarwo could not confirm that.

Halmahera has been one of the worst-affected islands. About 800 people died in clashes there at the end of last year.

A local priest on Halmahera, who identified himself only as Hadi, said at least 52 Christians had died in the predawn attack Monday. He said many of those killed were slaughtered as they slept. About 300 houses were also torched.

An Islamic activist on nearby Ternate island said at least three Muslim attackers were also killed and seven others injured after the Christians started fighting back.

Advertisement

More than 2,000 Islamic paramilitary members linked to Lasker Jihad are believed to have infiltrated the Moluccas despite repeated assurances by the government in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, that they would be prevented from fomenting trouble in the region. The group’s leader, Jafar Umar Thalib, has vowed to wage a holy war against the Christian community.

Also on Tuesday, police said security forces have been ordered to shoot rioters in the town of Poso in Sulawesi, about 1,000 miles northeast of Jakarta, where another sectarian conflict has claimed the lives of eight people since last week.

Sgt. Pardono said hundreds of houses have been damaged in the fighting between gangs of Christian and Muslim youths. Police and soldiers have been dispatched to the area to end the violence.

Advertisement