New Straits Times [Malaysia], Monday, May 24 2004
World
AMBON (Indonesia): Bomb blast injures five in strife-torn Ambon
AMBON (Indonesia), May 23: A bomb exploded in Indonesia's restive eastern city of
Ambon, injuring five people, three of them seriously, police and hospital staff said
today.
Three young men were seriously injured and hospitalised, said an unidentified nurse
at the Halong navy hospital here.
Ambon Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Leonidas Braksan said the blast
was due to a homemade bomb put in a biscuit tin. The tin was put inside a bag and
left under a bench in front of a store.
"The victims were people who found the package and tried to open the tin," he said,
adding that two other people were also lightly injured by the bomb which exploded
around 9:15am (0015 GMT).
"There are efforts to provoke the people," he said, referring to communal violence
between Christians and Muslims and separatists and pro-Indonesian supporters.
An investigation was underway.
Braksan added another home- made bomb exploded some 30 minutes after the first in
Batumerah area, 15km away. There were no casualties. The blasts came the day
after President Megawati Sukarnoputri's visit to the city, pledging that her government
will firmly act against separatists. - AFP
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