Fresh sectarian violence flares in Spice Islands

JAKARTA, Jan 17: Clashes between Muslims and Christians claimed the lives of another three people in eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands, the military said today, despite a warning from Jakarta of tough action to halt the violence, reports AFP.

Master Sergeant Des Sopacua, of the Maluku military command information office said three people were killed on Sunday in clashes between residents in two villages on Ambon island in central Maluku.

"Four members of the security forces were also injured when they tried to intervene in the fighting," Sopacua told AFP from Ambon, the main city in the Malukus on the island of the same name.

But he said security forces had regained control in the area.

The violence took place the morning after Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid warned the government's patience was running thin and it intended to take strong action to halt the year-long sectarian violence in the Malukus, formerly known as the Spice Islands.

More than 1,700 people have been killed in the violence in Maluku since the first clash broke out on Ambon island on January 19, 1999, the military have said. The violence has since spread to the other islands in the chain.

Maluku military chief Brigadier General Max Tamaela was quoted by the Kompas daily as saying sectarian clashes in Maluku and North Maluku have killed at least 771 and injured 850 others since late December.

The victims were killed in clashes in Hamahera island's subdistricts of Tobelo, Galela and on neighboring Seram island.