AMBON, Maluku (JP): A fresh incident occurred at the bordering
Mangga Dua-Diponegoro area in the violence-torn Maluku capital of
Ambon on Sunday afternoon.
A soldier, identified as Pvt. Erdiyanto of the 741 Infantry
Battalion, was injured by bomb shrapnel in the clash, which
involved fire exchanges and bombs.
The incident broke out when residents of Mangga Dua tried to
repair their houses which were damaged during a melee back in July
2001. The local residents were accompanied by four members of the
741th Infantry Battalion during the repair work.
A witness, Anna Pattiasina, said that while residents were
repairing their houses, a group of men from the Diponegoro area,
clad in white robes and Arabic-style head scarfs, told the
residents to stop renovating the houses.
Diponegoro used to be a neutral ground in Ambon but after three
years of conflicts between the Muslims and the Christians has
fallen under Muslim control.
The locals were then told by the military officials to go back
inside their houses for safety but soon after that the men from
Diponegoro came back and attacked with homemade bombs and guns.
As of late Sunday evening the situation was still tense.
Security forces were deployed to prevent further chaos. (49/edt)
