One Dead in Central Sulawesi Clash of Villages

Jakarta Globe August 20, 2012


A clash between two villages on Monday has left one person dead and several houses burned down in Central Sulawesi, local media reported.

Residents clashed with machetes, spears and stones in Marawola subdistrict, Sigi district, the Media Indonesia daily reported. Five houses were set on fire in the violence that pitted people from the villages of Padende and Binangga against each other, it said.

One person was killed in the clash, Antara state news agency reported, saying the body was taken to the police hospital in Palu.

The police’s calls for both sides to withdraw from the fight had gone unheeded, Media Indonesia added.

A platoon of Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police offers and another platoon of soldiers from a local infantry regiment were dispatched to the area, it said.

A spokesman from the Armed Forces (TNI) or the provincial police could not immediately be reached on Monday.

Husen Habibu, the secretary of Sigi district, said authorities would try to mediate between the two rival villages, which have been fighting for months. The latest conflict began on May 30.

He said the dead casualty, identified as 45-year-old Yahya from Uwemanje village, was believed to have come to help one of the rival villages.

“We will look at the situation first,” Husen said, as quoted by Antara. “We’ll mediate to achieve reconciliation, using a family approach. We’ll involve everyone.”

Husein said the violence was part of an old conflict pitting youths of the two villages against each other. He did not elaborate but said many residents from the villages were actually relatives.

“We will deliberate, involving the elders, the youth and the customary figures in and around the villages in the conflict,” he said.

A meeting for reconciliation had been scheduled before the clash, he said, but “suddenly the conflict erupted again.”