The Times of India, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2001
Gunmen kill 9 Christians in Indonesia
AMBON, Indonesia: Gunmen shot dead nine Christians travelling in a boat in the
riot-torn eastern Indonesian city of Ambon, residents and hospital sources said on
Wednesday.
Six women and three men were killed on Tuesday, a nurse at the Halong navy
hospital said.
"The bodies of the victims have been claimed by their relatives, we're still treating one
woman for gunshot wounds," said the nurse, who declined to be named.
All nine victims were Christians, a local journalist said, adding that speedboat
services between two localities had been suspended.
Ambon's sectarian violence has often taken place at sea. On December 12, an
explosion rocked a commercial boat carrying Christians in the same bay, killing seven
people.
In November gunmen in a speedboat shot dead three passengers in another boat.
Fighting between Muslims and Christians in the Malukus has left more than 5,000
people dead and created some half-a-million refugees since sectarian violence first
erupted in the town of Ambon, on the island of the same name, in January 1999.
The conflict prompted the government to slap civil emergency rules in the Malukus in
2000. ( AFP )
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