Renewed religious clashes in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Jan 4: Clashes between Muslims and Christians in eastern Indonesia's Maluku islands raged on Tuesday, the military said, sending the death toll from two weeks of violence soaring to more than 600.

Muslims and Christians battled for the third straight day in Masohi, the main town on Seram island, leaving dozens dead, First Sergeant Lanursani of the local military office told AFP.

"I can hear sounds of gunfire and bomb explosions here and there," Lanursani said.

"I can say that dozens of people have died although I don't know the precise number," he added.

He said the violence had continued unabated despite the deployment of hundreds of security personnel, including reinforcements from Java island.

"Soldiers have been forced to shoot at the warring mobs," the officer said.

Sectarian clashes on the northern Maluku island of Halmahera have killed at least 400 people since December 27, the official Antara news agency said, quoting the North Maluku police chief Lieutenant Colonel Didik Prijantono.

The figure includes more than 250 killed during three days of violence in the island's Tobelo sub-district starting on December 27 when Christians angered by the burning of a church on Ambon island the previous day went on a rampage and attacked Muslim residents.

At least 63 more people died last week in similar clashes in Ambon, the main city of Maluku. Another outbreak of sectarian violence killed 165 on neighbouring Buru island.

Thousands of people from Halmahera, mostly Muslims, have sought refuge in neigbouring Ternate island, the agency said.

Some 1,500 troop reinforcements from East Java province and 15 doctors from Jakarta arrived on Monday in Ternate, the main city of the newly-formed province of North Maluku which also covers Halmahera.

The military headquarters in Jakarta said a total of 8,000 additional army troops have been deployed in North Maluku to support some 1,000 police and soldiers there.

The military on December 29 assumed responsibility for security in Maluku, known as the Spice Islands during colonial times, allowing security forces to search houses, conduct checks, and arrest suspects.

A year of conflict between Muslims and Christians in Maluku has left 1,134 dead, over 2,300 injured and more than 8,500 buildings, including more than 122 places of worship, either damaged or burned.

Many of those killed and wounded have been shot by security forces caught in the middle of warring mobs.

The clashes first erupted on January 19, 1999 on the island of Ambon following a dispute between a public transport driver and a migrant. The violence has since spread to at least five other islands in the Malukus, once noted for its religious harmony.

The violence forced tens of thousands to flee their homes and seek refuge in local military installations or elsewhere in Indonesia.