AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Thursday April 11, 2002 2:26 PM
Three killed in brawl in Indonesia's Maluku islands
JAKARTA, April 11 (AFP) - At least three men were killed and dozens of homes set
ablaze during a brawl between villagers in Indonesia's eastern Maluku islands, a
hospital worker said Thursday.
The incident on the island of Saparua, east of the provincial capital Ambon, was
apparently unconnected to bloody Muslim-Christian clashes in the Malukus in recent
years.
The victims died in clashes between residents of two Christian villages on the island
from Wednesday night to Thursday morning, said a nurse at the Saparua general
hospital who identified herself as Maya.
She said 12 men were injured by home-made firearms but the situation in both
villages was back to normal. Fires set by the feuding mobs also destroyed dozens of
homes in both villages, Maya quoted witnesses as saying.
The Maluku police chief, Brigadier General Sunarko (eds: one name), was expected
to visit the villages on Thursday, Antara news agency reported.
The cause of the clash was unknown but deadly village feuds are not uncommon in
Indonesia.
On April 3 a bomb in Ambon city killed at least four people and injured dozens.
Authorities said the aim was to wreck a peace agreement between Muslims and
Christians, which ended three years of sectarian clashes that claimed more than
5,000 lives.
Copyright © 2001 AFP. All rights reserved.
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