One Dead, Five Injured in Ethnic Clashes on Indonesian Borneo

Published October 26th, 2000 - 02:00 GMT
Al Bawaba
Al Bawaba

One man was killed and five people were injured in renewed clashes between local Malays and settlers in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, the military said Thursday. 

The clashes erupted late Wednesday in the capital city of Pontianak over a minor traffic accident involving a Malay motorcyclist and a bus driver from Madura, off east Java.  

"A man died in a skirmish following the accident. Two civilians and two policemen were also injured in the brawls," First Lieutenant Hadiono told AFP of the violence on Wednesday. 

"Street stalls which had been abandoned by the Madurese were also set on fire from around 6.00 pm (1000 GMT) until midnight," he said, adding that the victim's identity was unknown. 

While Pontianak was "under control" early on Thursday, Hadiono said, fighting resumed again just before midday between the two feuding ethnic groups in the Sungai Jawi Dalam area of the city.  

During the Thursday skirmishes one Madurese was injured, said a male nurse with the state Sudarso hospital. 

"A Madurese man was admitted here around noon with injuries to his chest and face," the nurse, who identified himself only as Iwan, told AFP. 

First Sergeant Ismail (eds: one name) of Pontianak military police told AFP that joint security troops had set up roadblocks in the city's main streets. 

He said four of Pontianak's main markets were closed and that many Chinese-owned businesses had also downed their shutters. 

"The city is still quite tense, everybody prefers to stay inside their homes ... but we're still on guard," Ismail said. 

The Madurese, a hardworking but aggressive ethnic group, were the target of violent attacks by Malays, backed up by indigenous Dayak tribesmen, in West Kalimantan in 1999. 

Some 3,000 people perished in the months of violence there last year and tens of thousands of migrants were displaced. 

Borneo island is divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei -- JAKARTA (AFP)  

 

© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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