The Daily Telegraph, November 3, 2001
Villagers killed in island raid
JAKARTA: Hundreds of armed attackers killed three villagers in the latest violence on
Indonesia's Maluku islands, which have been ravaged by almost three years of
violence between Muslims and Christians, it was reported yesterday.
The group descended on the predominantly-Christian village of Waimulang on Buru
island yesterday morning, killing three residents and burning down most of the
settlement, the Jakarta Post said.
More than 1000 residents fled to the jungle and the fate of 13 military officers who
were in the village at the time was unknown.
The largely barren island, a place of exile for political prisoners under the 32-year
Suharto regime, could not be reached by telephone.
Buru police chief Yopi Tutupari told authorities in the provincial capital Ambon by radio
that the attackers arrived in the coastal village in at least 14 boats and outnumbered
his men.
Troops have been sent to the island to remove the rioters, Maluku deputy governor
Paula Renyaan said.
Local leaders led by John Lestusa protested over the authorities' "sluggish" response
to the attack, the Post reported.
"More than 1,000 people are now hiding in jungles and cannot return home because
rioters occupied their village," he was quoted as saying.
Maluku, known as the Spice Islands during Dutch colonial rule, has been the scene of
clashes between the Muslim and Christian communities since January 1999.
Some 5,000 people have been killed and more than half a million driven from their
homes.
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