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Jakarta Post (5/21/2001 3:38:08 PM)
Fresh violence kills eight in Ambon
AMBON, Maluku (JP): At least eight people were killed and 17 others injured in a new bout of violence as heavily armed rioters launched a sudden blitz here late on Sunday, officials said on Monday.
Dozens of houses and two Kijang vans were also torched by the assailants.
The eight victims, two of them were alleged rioters, died during late Sunday night attack at predominantly-Christian areas of Soya Kecil, Belakang Soya and Karang Panjang areas in Ambon.
While 17 locals survived with injuries in the attack, carried out by groups of men in military fatigues armed with bayonets, machetes and makeshift firearms and bombs.
All victims were rushed to Bakti Rahayu hospital.
The attack followed a power blackout in the area which took place around five minutes.
Soldiers, among others from the Joint Battalion II, the 521/Brawijaya Infantry Battalion and the Ambon security sector, quickly intervened to repulse the attack but none of the assailants were caught.
Pattimura Military Commander Brig. Gen. I Made Yasa said on Monday that his office along with Maluku Police would investigate all possibilities, including the alleged involvement of state electricity company PLN in the attack.
Yasa was speaking after a briefing with the new Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Edi Darnadi and Netherlands Ambassador Baron van Heemstra who happened to be in Ambon for a 10-day working visit.
"We admitted that the officers guarding the posts may have missed the assailants since there was power blackout and they were using military attributes," Yasa said.
Yasa also said that the assailants have adopted military style in their blitz and were using sharp weapons to kill their targets instead of firearms.
"This is the new mode of operation. The attackers were using military tactics to infiltrate the housing complex and passed three security posts (guarded by 521/Brawijaya soldiers).
"Therefore I have ordered all field commanders to make an alert call and count and identify their men. Those who went missing without clear reason during the time of the incident will be punished," Yasa told The Jakarta Post by phone on Monday.
Among the evidence seized after the blitz that ended around 6 a.m. local time on Monday are two M-16 automatic rifles, one semiautomatic rifle, one Colt revolver, 148 M-16 ammunitions, 202 Colt bullets, 31 assembled bombs, two plastic jars filled with gasoline, four Molotov cocktails, a head cover and 15 assembled rifles along with several military equipments.
The items were taken to Pattimura Military headquarters.
The attackers opened the blitz by spraying bullets from the west part of Hotel Amman in Mardika area, which hotel is used by the Netherlands embassy entourage, Yasa said.
The security forces eventually managed to evacuateNetherlands Ambassador to Hotel Mutiara on Jl. Pattimura under tight security, using two armored vehicles to lead them to a safer ground.
Yasa further said after Monday talk with the ambassador, Van Heemstra decided to continue his visit to the strife-torn islands.
Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Edi Darnadi said that Police along with military backups have taken precaution measures. "We hope that none of these incident will reoccur," Edi said.
The six fatalities were identified as Mrs. Dolli Sebenan, Raselus Ferdinandus, Ruce Gaspers, Wenan Tomasoa, Broery Toysuta and Petrus Pomai. Two other fatalities were unidentified men, allegedly the attackers as they were using plain military uniforms without names, ranks or units.
Surviving witnesses said the attackers went door-to-door and brutally murdered the locals.
"They knocked on the door and when the house owner opened it, the attackers slashed the victim with bayonet," a local journalist who happened to live in Belakang Soya area said.
The violence came after a few weeks' respite in the religious conflict between Muslims and Christians in Ambon, which erupted in Jan. 19, 1999.
More than 8,000 people were killed and half a million forced to flee after the violence quickly spread to other islands in Maluku.
Maluku was placed under a civilian emergency status since June 27 last year. (49/edt)
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