ASSOCIATED PRESS, Thursday June 6, 2002 9:06 AM ET
Bomb explodes on bus in central Indonesia, killing four
By MICHAEL CASEY, Associated Press Writer
JAKARTA, Indonesia - A bomb exploded inside a bus packed with commuters in
central Indonesia, killing four people and injuring 17, law enforcement officials said
Thursday.
The explosion Wednesday afternoon occurred as the bus carrying 25 people was
headed toward Poso, the district capital of Central Sulawesi, a province with a history
of violence between Muslims and Christians.
The bombing was the worst violence to hit the region since the warring factions signed
a peace agreement in December, but police could not say who was behind the attack.
It called into question recent statements by military leaders who insisted that peace
was taking hold in Central Sulawesi.
Because of the region's remoteness, it took time for the news of the blast to reach
Jakarta. A sprawling nation of about 17,000 islands, Indonesia is the world's largest
archipelago; Poso is about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) northeast of the capital.
Police said they were inspecting the badly damaged bus Thursday. They said they
were looking for three unidentified passengers who got off the bus before the blast and
were questioning six others people who were on the bus, including the bus driver.
Victims — some of them injured seriously — were rushed to a three hospitals. Police
did not give their religions.
Poso was calm Thursday with most businesses opening as usual. But police were on
high alert and all vehicles entering the coastal town were checked for weapons.
Indonesian National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, who was on a visit to the island
of Lombok, urged residents in Central Sulawesi to remain calm despite the blast.
"The explosion of the commuter bus constituted a provocation attempt by those who
don't want to see the society in Central Sulawesi living quietly and peacefully,"
Bachtiar told the state-run Antara news agency.
Two years of fighting — fueled by the presence of the paramilitary Islamic group
Laskar Jihad — have killed about 1,000 residents and displaced thousands more in
the province.
Tensions have risen recently in Poso, where local newspapers reported that a series
of mysterious homemade bombs exploded there last week. No one was injured, but a
number of shops were destroyed.
The Jakarta Post newspaper reported Saturday that the Indonesian military had begun
withdrawing about 1,500 troops from the region. Military officials said Saturday the
pullout showed security had improved in Poso.
Since the fall of former dictator Suharto in 1998, Indonesia has been wracked by
separatist and religious violence, though predictions that the country would break
apart have not materialized.
On Thursday, government troops and separatist rebels gave conflicting casualty
figures for fierce fighting this week in the restive province of Aceh, in western
Indonesia.
In a gunbattle Thursday, a military spokesman said three rebels were killed when
troops ambushed them on a street in Pidie district, northern Aceh.
The military said a rebel and a police officer were killed in two gunbattles in Aceh on
Tuesday. Rebels insisted seven policemen were killed in those clashes. They gave no
immediate account of Thursday's gunbattle.
Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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