The Star, Wednesday, October 09, 2002
Blast injures six in Indonesia's Ambon
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - A bomb explosion Wednesday in the capital of
Indonesia's religiously divided Maluku province injured four civilians and two soldiers,
officials and witnesses said.
The device, hidden in a plastic shopping bag, was discovered in a marketplace in
Ambon's Christian quarter by a passerby who alerted authorities, Brig. Gen. Sunarko
Ardiyanto said.
Soldiers removed it to an open field, but could not keep curious onlookers from
approaching the site.
Two of the soldiers and four townspeople were slightly injured when the bomb
suddenly exploded as the bomb squad was arriving, Ardiyanto said.
Police said no one had claimed responsibility for the blast, but said 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 2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles) east of Jakarta.
Up to 9,000 people were killed in three years of sectarian warfare that first erupted in
1999. Ambon remained calm Wednesday.
Dozens of police officers and army soldiers were patrolling the city and keeping watch
over the blast site, Ardiyanto said. - AP
Copyright © 1995-2002 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)
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