The Jakarta Globe, October 29, 2012
Lampung. Ethnic clashes involving several villages located in South Lampung have left at least three people dead and have led to the destruction of dozens of homes over the past few days.
The clash erupted after two girls from Agom village, in the subdistrict of Kalianda, sustained injuries on Saturday, reportedly after some young men from neighboring Balinuraga village teased them while they rode on a motorcycle.
While Agom is inhabited by native Lampung people, most of the residents of Balinuraga are Balinese.
Angered by Saturday's incident, hundreds of Agom villagers armed with machetes, cleavers and airsoft guns, among other things, arrived in Balinuraga on Sunday to demand an apology from the people.
Conflict soon errupted, while people from a few other villages in the area, which are also inhabited by native Lampung people, joined Agom in the battle.
“Three people died in the village confrontation that took place [on Sunday] in Balinuraga,” Lampung Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Sulistyaningsih told the Indonesian news portal detik.com on Sunday.
The three victims who died were Marhadan, 35, from the village of Gunung Terang, Alwi Nazar, 35, from Tajimalela village, and Jahiya, 30, from Jati Permai village.
The deaths triggered a larger attack on Balinuraga on Monday, this time involving thousands of people, including those from outside South Lampung. The attackers managed to break through a police blockade of the village, although about 1,000 police officers were on guard.
Some 50 houses were reportedly destroyed after being set on fire. It is not clear yet whether anyone died in the attack; rumor says four people died, while hundreds of villagers have fled and sought refuges, vivanews.com reported.
Due to the clash, police blocked for 3.5 hours on Monday a road near Balinuraga village connecting the trans-Sumatra highway with Lampung’s Bakauheni Port, which is only a 30 minutes away from the village.
National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said roughly 300 officers from the National Police headquarters in Jakarta had been sent to Lampung to help local police tackle the riots.
Police are now investigating the incident with support from some local military officers.
Lampung reported at least three other intervillage clashes earlier this year, with one in the South Lampung subdistrict of Natar in August, another one in the subdistrict of Padangcermin in Pesawaran district, also in August and the one in Sidomulyo, South Lampung, in January.
BeritaSatu, JG