The Jakarta Post, April 12, 2004
Christians blast police over Easter shooting
Irvan NR, The Jakarta Post, Palu, Central Sulawesi
Christians here lashed out at security forces for failing to protect them from Saturday's
Easter shooting by unidentified gunmen in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, despite
recent police reinforcements.
The protest was swiftly staged by residents in the predominately Christian town of
Tentena around one hour after the attack on Tabernacle Church in Kilo village, Poso
Pesisir subdistrict, which injured seven people including a four-year old girl.
The protesters gathered en masse in Tentena and checked every vehicle passing
through the town.
Poso Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Abdi Darma Sitepu confirmed on Sunday that the
Tentena residents had tried to avenge the victims of the shooting.
But they refrained from resorting to violence as police immediately arrived to calm
them down, he added. "There were only gathering in groups."
Despite the attack, thousands of Christians in Poso flocked to churches in the
lakeside town for Easter Sunday mass amid tight security from hundreds of police.
Abdi admitted that he was worried if Tentena residents retaliated as it would have
pleased the gunmen because their target would have been achieved.
Previous attacks blamed on unidentified gunmen have mostly targeted Christians in
Poso after a 2001 peace accord to end two years of religious fighting, which killed
some 2,000 people. However, Christians have so far not retaliated.
The fresh attacks were launched despite reinforcements of security personnel in the
religiously divided town.
Two weeks ago, police deployed around 300 more officers to Poso after a clergyman
was shot dead and a woman lecturer was injured by gunmen on March 31.
The police arrested five men, including one of Arab descent, after the previous
attacks.
Abdi said he sent two platoons of police officers to comb Poso in search of the
perpetrators of the Easter shooting at around 7:15 p.m. on Saturday.
However, none of suspects have been captured.
Abdi believed the attackers were still in Poso, but could not identify them or their
whereabouts. He said that the gunmen likely belonged to the same group that
launched the earlier attacks.
In Saturday's attack, two gunmen dressed in black Ninja-like uniforms rode up to the
Tabernacle Church on a motorbike and fired shots indiscriminately at churchgoers
who were singing a hymn. The people immediately fell to the ground and lay face
down covered only by the pews.
Abdi said daily activities continued as usual on Sunday as local residents were not
affected by the latest shooting, although they remained alert in case of further
shootings.
Traffic on the Trans-Sulawesi highway was normal. A traveler, named Om Ontet who
made a trip from neighboring Morowali regency to the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu
via Poso, said his car was examined by security forces while arriving at the scene.
Poso has seen intermittent violence after the government-brokered peace deal in
2001. In the worst bloodshed last year, gunmen in October killed 10 people in attacks
on mainly Christian villages.
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