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Posted by barrykind (Member # 35) on :

Christians Attacked in North Maluku, Indonesia

July 15, 2002

Radical Muslims are continuing to destroy Christian villages and homes like this one in Dewua

Christian Village Destroyed as Tobelo Braces for Imminent Attack

From Christian Aid Mission News:

By John Lindner

Christians in North Maluku Province of Indonesia continue to face provocative attacks resulting in injury and near death. The latest incident occurred Friday morning.

Christian Aid learned that at nine o'clock Friday morning a vehicle containing ten Christians was heading to Ruku village near Tobelo on northern Halmahera Island. When they came to the army post controlled by the Brawijaya 512 military unit, the driver asked about security and was told it was safe to proceed. A short distance down the road they were attacked by a Muslim mob of 300 people in the village of Popilo, a village near to Garua that was attacked yesterday morning.

Members of the mob attacked the passengers and driver with machete knives and rocks. The driver, trying to shield himself, was struck several times on his arms, neck and under the ear. Though wounded, he gunned the engine and drove the vehicle away from the mob. Several passengers also sustained cuts on arms and heads and had to be admitted to Bethesda Hospital in Tobelo.

Tolonuo, a village on a small island two kilometers (slightly over one mile) from Tobelo, also came under attack. Though it also was allegedly guarded by the Brawijaya 512 (Brawijaya being the name of the East Java section of the military), when the Christians there received threats, they fled in canoes to Tobelo. There were not enough canoes to transport all, so one husband, wife and son were left behind, while another person swam the entire distance to Tobelo. The fate of the family left behind is unknown.

While these villagers were fleeing, Muslims looted and destroyed their houses. An eyewitness said the Brawijaya 512 just watched passively and did nothing to protect the Christians or their property. It is thought that most of those engaged in these attacks were local Muslims who had returned from Ternate, a city taken over by jihad Muslims two years ago, fully equipped with weapons.

With this new increase of violent incidents many residents of Tobelo, a city of 50,000 that is 90% Christian, are panicking. Community leaders have thus far been able to restrain the Christian community from retaliating, but if the fear level becomes too high a reaction from the Christian community is a dangerous possibility. Such a response would give the radical Muslims justification to attack the "violent" Christians and another massacre of members of the Christian community would ensue.

Yet evidence of a possible jihad attack has been found. New jihad clothing has been uncovered with Al Mujahidin and other Arabic writing on it, besides a cache of weapons found in Muslim houses. Six pages of notes also were found written in Arabic and Indonesian and included pictures of dragons, snakes and a prayer for protection against being killed in battle.

Two truckloads of additional troops from Brawijaya 512 were dispatched yesterday from Ternate and arrived in Tobelo near midnight last night. With the island of Tolonuo now totally in Muslim hands as well as Galela and South Morotai, Christians in Tobelo fear that their city will be attacked and destroyed within a week if the Brawijaya 512 is not immediately withdrawn.