Armed attackers raided a Christian neighborhood in Indonesia's ravaged city of Ambon yesterday, killing at least 12 people and raising fresh doubts about the chances for peace in the troubled Maluku region.
"The attack broke out early [yesterday] in Soya village of Ambon city. They attacked the village by using home-made bombs and set fire to some of the houses," said a local journalist who went to the scene. The reporter cited residents as saying the pre-dawn attackers were Muslim and there were dozens of them.
He counted 11 dead, but a second witness who had been to the site said he saw at least 12 bodies, and Indonesia's official Antara news agency gave the same figure and said six people were wounded.
The attack occurred around 4am yesterday as people were still asleep. The number of known casualties could increase as residents search for victims under the debris of destroyed houses, Antara said.
The second witness said residents reported some of the attackers were armed with military-issue weapons and wearing camouflage uniforms.
Yesterday's incident is the latest in several days of fresh trouble in Ambon, undermining hopes a peace deal brokered between Muslims and Christians in February would finally bring an end to the strife.
Members and supporters of President Megawati Sukarnoputri have pointed to the Ambon peace pact and an earlier similar agreement in the Poso area of Sulawesi as evidence her government was bringing a measure of stability to the sprawling archipelago.
Over the past three years, at least 5,000 people have been killed in religious violence in Ambon and in the Maluku islands of which it is the hub.
Some of the violence has involved paramilitary units affiliated with various Muslim and Christian groups.
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