NO RESPITE FOR CHRISTIANS IN POSO AREA OF INDONESIA
The Barnabas Fund
CENTRAL SULAWESI, INDONESIA (ANS) -- Five people were killed and hundreds of houses were burnt to the ground during an attack on three Christian villages near Poso in Central Sulawesi on August 12, the Barnabas Fund reports. Two churches were also burnt in the attack on Silanca, Sepe and Batu Gencu villages, situated approximately eight miles east of Poso.
According to a press release put out by the Barnabas Fund, the attackers were armed with automatic weapons. The reports states: "The Christian villagers attempted to defend themselves with makeshift weapons such as machetes, sickles and sharpened bamboo sticks but were forced to flee in the face of such overwhelming force.
As they fled, their homes were being looted and then burnt down. Members of the National Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) had been withdrawn from their defensive positions in the locality prior to the attack following an alleged kidnapping of one of its members. The village of Sepe had only recently been rebuilt after being destroyed in an attack by Laskar Jihad in December 2001."
This is just the latest of a series of attacks on Christians in the Poso area, the Barnabas Fund said. "There have been attacks on Christian villages and individuals; buses carrying Christian passengers have been bombed and shot at causing several casualties; cars stopped at barricades and Christian occupants attacked and sometimes killed. As a consequence of these attacks, many Christian leaders decided not to attend two days of talks, held on August 11 and 12 in Palu, the provincial capital, to discuss the recent upsurge in violence in the Poso area. Indonesian officials have pledged to send reinforcements to Poso and to identify and apprehend those responsible for the recent violence. However, it remains to be seen if these promises will be carried out on the ground."
The report added: "It had been hoped that
the peace agreement signed in December 2001 would bring an end to the violence
in Central Sulawesi that saw over 2,000 people killed and tens of thousands
displaced from their homes. However, the recent upsurge of violence indicates
that the Islamic extremists of Laskar Jihad seem determined to continue
their attacks on Christians. The Indonesian authorities appear to be unable
or unwilling to prevent such attacks. Nor have they taken decisive action
to disarm the perpetrators of the attacks."
The Barnabas Fund may be contacted
at:
Wiltshire, SN9 5DB, UK
Tel 01672 564938, Fax 01672 565030.
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