Ethnic violence in a small gold mining town in Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province claimed four lives over the weekend, police said Monday.
Fighting between the local Dayak community and migrant settlers from the East Java Island of Madura erupted following a brawl at a prostitution complex in Kereng Pangi on Friday evening, police said.
"A Dayak man was stabbed and then hacked to death by a Madurese mob following a dispute late on Friday night," said police Chief Sergeant Muhammad Husin from Palangkaraya, the provincial capital some 100 kilometers (62 miles) northeast of the town.
Husin said that unlike past similar incidents, the Friday killing triggered further violence that went on until Monday.
Some 100 Dayak men on Saturday attacked a complex predominantly housing Madurese in Kereng Pangi.
During the attack, three Madurese men were killed and some 20 homes burned down, Husin said, adding that "right now, some 400 Dayak men are still roaming around" the streets in Kereng Pangi.
"No cars can pass through the area, they are stopping every vehicle while looking for Madurese people. Four buses have been set on fire, but there is nothing we can do other than being on guard and be patient," Husin said.
Violence between locals and Madurese led to at least five deaths in the port town of Kumai in neighboring Kutawaringin Barat district in August.
Bloody clashes between ethnic Madurese and local tribesmen and Malays left some 3,000 dead in months of unrest in neighboring West Kalimantan in 1999. Thousands of Madurese have also remained displaced.
Madurese were also at the core of violence with Dayak tribesmen in West Kalimantan in 1997.
Borneo Island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei -- JAKARTA (AFP)
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