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| Southeast Asia |
| Explosions rock Ambon |
| 2004-04-28 |
| Gunfire and explosions rocked Ambon, leaving at least eight wounded as Christians and Muslims clashed for a fourth day in Indonesia's Maluku islands. Shortly after dawn, unidentified assailants launched attacks in several districts of the provincial capital. Plumes of smokes could be seen rising from at least two areas, and gunfire echoed across the religiously-divided city for several hours. Ambon police chief Brigadier General Bambang Sutrisno said officers were collecting casualty figures, but said security was improving in the province, where Muslim-Christian violence three years ago killed 9,000 people. "We believe things are getting better," he told The Associated Press. Eight Muslims - all with bullet or blast wounds - were taken to an Islamic hospital as a result of the violence, staffers there said. Many members of Jemaah Islamiah, an al-Qaeda-linked extremist group blamed for a series of deadly bombings in Indonesia, have told authorities that they fought in the conflict. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |