RELIGION CONFLICT IN AMBON

Clash at dawn in Batu Ambon red village at the Pattimura Torch event on Tuesday (05/15/2012), automatically interrupt Kamtibmas in Ambon city. Kamtibmas disorder is certainly very disturbing Ambon city residents who in June will host the MTQ XXIV National level.

At around 07.20 WIT, actually the atmosphere on the border of Batu Merah and Mardika which became the location of the clashes, has begun to be conducive. Both masses have been successfully driven by the security forces. But the condition suddenly changed when a group of Christian mobs tried to infiltrate Muslim settlements in Lorong Tahu, Rijali urban village.

During the incident, voa-islam.com was in the Lorong Tahu with the Muslim community guarding the border. The atmosphere was gripping because the position between the Christian attackers and the surviving citizens was only about 10 meters.

This continued incident started when the house of Christians belonging to Karel Maruanaya (40) suddenly burning fire. It is unclear where the mobs are burning the house, because suddenly the fire is on.

Seeing the fire gobbling up Karel's house, the Christians who gathered across the Pearl road (across the aisle of Tahu) were angry and tried to get into Muslim settlements to attack the gathering masses of Islam. The anger of the Christian masses came after the provocation by a woman and a man in brown shirt.

Muslims consider this incident an irrelevant event. "How can the Christian masses get in the Lorong Tahu, whereas many of the TNI and Polri officers are on guard at the venue?" Said a resident who requested anonymity.

The abrupt attack by the Christian masses had alarmed Muslims. The panicked Muslim masses chose to flee into the boardinghouses and settlements. The atmosphere had heated up and almost clashed between the two masses. Again, the Christian mobs threw the Muslims towards the settlement.

Emotionally Muslim citizens had tried to fight by pushing forward to attack the Christian masses who had gathered on the roadside. "If you have the courage to come here, the nat katong iris kamong," yelled a young man toward the Christian masses.

The situation was successfully controlled after the Brimob Gegana Polda Maluku and TNI officers came to the scene to break the two warring masses.

After the situation began to abate the strangeness again occurred because suddenly members of Brigade Gegana combing into several houses of Muslims looking for sharp weapons. In the sweeping Brimob Gegana seized several dozen iron arrows belonging to the Muslims. Muslims are attacked but Muslims are also raided. What is this show? [AF] Tuesday, May 15, 2012.