LAKSAMANA.Net, May 18, 2005 02:39 PM
Deadly ambush on a Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police post
Laksamana.Net - Police have reportedly arrested five men suspected of involvement in
a deadly ambush on a Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police post on Seram island, Maluku
province.
The attack occurred at 3am Monday (16/5/05) in remote Loki village, West Seram
district, when a group of gunmen opened fire at the post, where 14 Brimob personnel
were sleeping.
Five police, their civilian cook and one of the attackers were shot dead during the
incident. Police said the slain assailant, identified as Abdullah, might have been
wounded by the Brimob officers and then killed by his associates in an effort to cover
their tracks.
National Police spokesman Zainuri Lubis on Tuesday said that based on statements
from witnesses, it is believed that nine people were involved in the attack. Other
officials said there six or seven attackers, who arrived and left in a speedboat.
Police on Monday night arrested one of the suspected attackers, identified as Dahlan
alias Asep, in the provincial capital of Ambon. Reports said he was found at 11pm
with a gunshot wound to his right hand when caught in a bed at a local resident's
house in the predominantly Muslim neighborhood of Batumerah.
Detikcom online news portal reported that police also found several guns and 10,000
rounds of ammunition in the house. Dahlan is currently being incarcerated at the
provincial police headquarters, along with four other suspects.
Maluku Police spokesman Endro Prasetyo on Tuesday said 10 witnesses were being
questioned and some of them could later be declared suspects. He said police had
already found three weapons - two Mk3 rifles and an AK47 - that were apparently
used in the attack.
Maluku Police chief Brigadier General Adityawarman on Wednesday said police had
arrested five suspected perpetrators. He identified them by their initials as O.P., A,
H.E.R., T. and F.T.
He said the suspects were undergoing intensive interrogation in an effort to discover
the name of the mastermind behind the attack, which occurred when the government
was preparing to return locals to Loki after they fled from the predominantly Christian
village amid deadly sectarian violence in the Maluku islands over 1999-2002.
Adityawarman declined to give details of the initial interrogations, but said all of the
suspects except O.P. were outsiders.
"Whoever masterminded the attack that killed the five Brimob personnel will be
pursued to the grave to be held to account for this uncivilized action," he was quoted
as saying by state news agency Antara.
Prasetyo said the perpetrators of Monday's attack might have also been responsible
for at least two other attacks in the province earlier this year.
On February 15, gunmen in speedboats opened fire at a beachside karaoke club in
Ambon, killing a Christian patron and a Muslim waitress. On February 14, two people
were injured when a ship sailing off Buru island was sprayed with gunfire by assailants
traveling in a speedboat.
Prasetyo declined to comment on speculation that Monday's attack might have been
carried out by members of the outlawed South Maluku Republic (RMS) separatist
group, which is predominantly Christian.
He said it appeared the perpetrators had received special training in weapons handling
at a place in Ambon before the attack.
Unconfirmed reports named one of the detained suspects as Fatur and said he was
also allegedly involved in the attack on the karaoke club.
Speedboat Driver, Bus Driver & Truck Driver
One of the main witnesses questioned over the attack was Libit (22), the owner of the
speedboat that was apparently rented by the gunmen. Police also questioned his
brother Anggato (14) and brother-in-law Rinto (12).
Libit is a resident of Kalauli hamlet in Kaitetu village on the Leihitu coast along Ambon
Bay. He told police that two men came to his house at about 3pm Sunday and asked
to hire his speedboat at 4.30am the following day for a trip from Seram. They agreed
on a price of Rp250,000, including the hiring of Libit to drive the speedboat.
According to Libit the men did not give their names, but he said they were both about
168-172 centimeters tall and not well built. He said one of them had a hairy face,
including sideburns, while the other had long hair.
Libit said that on Monday morning he woke up Anggato and Rinto to accompany him
on the job. He said he drove the speedboat to a prearranged point near Loki and six
men entered the boat.
He said one of the men had his hand bandaged in a cloth and another was wounded
in the stomach. "I saw it but I was afraid to ask questions. I whispered to my brothers
to be silent and not speak," he was quoted as saying by detikcom.
Libit said he took the men to Waitomu village, about 40 kilometers from Ambon city,
and then when to his base at Leihitu Port, where he usually waits for passengers.
Police later in the day examined the speedboat and found bloodstains in the vessel.
Libit and his brothers were then taken in for questioning and later released.
Another key witness questioned by police was Ahmad Lumaela (27), who drives a bus
on the route connecting Hila-Kaitetu-Ambon.
He said that at 5.30am Monday he picked up about four men near Waitomu. One of
them was suffering a wound to the hand and another was wounded in the stomach,
while the two others were not visibly wounded, he said.
Lumaela said he dropped off the men at Rumah Tiga Beach and didn't know where
they went next.
Ambon Police deputy chief Deni Hermana said the four men then apparently took a
speedboat to the city and went to Batumerah.
He said two other suspects hitched a ride in a pick-up truck at Waitomu and asked to
be dropped off at Laha village in Baguala subdistrict.
"When the truck reached Durian Patah village, one of the men suddenly threw a
package out of the vehicle. The driver, identified as F.L., asked what the package
contained and was told that it was rotten fish," he said.
Hermana said the men soon got out of the truck and the driver saw them walking back
toward the package. He said the driver then continued to Ambon.
After receiving the driver's information, police immediately went to the area near Durian
Patah. Underneath a sago tree they found ammunition for AK47, Mk3 and SS1
weapons, as well as three homemade bombs, seven black-and-green camouflage
masks, one thick red jacket, a waist-bag, some biscuits, packs of instant noodles,
several items of clothing and Betadine antiseptic medicine.
Several homemade weapons wrapped in orange-colored canvas were found nearby.
Adityawarman expressed gratitude to the witnesses for providing information on the
perpetrators. "We are grateful to the three witnesses, who revealed the characteristics
and modus operandi of the perpetrators, who were identified from Katapang village to
Waitomo village to Durian Patah and Ambon city," he said.
He said police had found the perpetrators' weapons and ammunition in several
locations, including the scene of the crime, Leihitu regency and Ambon city. "This
material evidence will be used to bring them to court," he added.
Motive Unclear
Authorities are yet to discover the motive of Monday's attack. Prasetyo said the
incident was a form of terror designed to weaken security and stability in Maluku.
Owais Parray, head of the United Nations Crisis Prevention and Recovery program for
Maluku, told Voice of America News it was too early to determine the motive and too
easy to blame it on religious differences.
"There are other elements that feed into this violence, I do not think it is religiously. I
mean, it has been characterized as such, but I think there are other factors that have
contributed to this continued violence," he said.
Thamrin Amal Tomagola, an expert on the Maluku conflict from the University of
Indonesia, told Reuters the attackers appeared to be battle-hardened fighters. "It's
hard to believe Brimob could lose five against such a small group," he said.
National Police chief General Dai Bachtiar was reluctant to comment on whether the
attackers were civilians or possible members of the security forces. "One thing for
sure is that this group wanted to disrupt the peace and stability in Ambon," he said.
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