The Australian, October 09, 2002
Bomb blast injures six
A BOMB blast in the capital of Indonesia's religiously divided Maluku province has
injured four civilians and two soldiers.
The device, hidden in a plastic shopping bag, was discovered in a marketplace in
Ambon's Christian quarter by a passerby who alerted authorities, Brigadier General
Sunarko Ardiyanto said.
Soldiers took it to an open field, but could not keep curious onlookers from
approaching the site.
Two soldiers and four townspeople were slightly injured when the device exploded as
the bomb squad was arriving, Ardiyanto said.
Police said no one had claimed responsibility for the blast.
But they suspected unidentified extremists trying to undermine a
government-sponsored peace agreement concluded in February between the Muslim
and Christian communities.
A dozen people have died since then in a series of unexplained blasts in the island
province, about 2600km east of Jakarta.
Up to 9,000 people were killed in three years of sectarian warfare that first erupted in
1999.
Ambon remained calm today.
Dozens of police officers and army soldiers were patrolling the city and keeping watch
over the blast site, Ardiyanto said
© The Australian
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