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Three dead in clash between villages on Seram Island

04 May 2008, JAKARTA - Three people were killed on Saturday in a fierce clash between two villages on the island of Seram in the Malulu archipelago in eastern Indonesia. At least 60 homes, several schools and places of worship were burned down in the riot as well. Hundreds of anti-riot police were deployed to the area to restore order. Brig. Gen. Guntur Ariyadi told that hundreds of panic-stricken residents had fled to temporary shelters.

The villagers from the villages of Saleman and Horale have been involved in a dispute over land ownership for over two years now, Ariyadi told. The region has also been the scene of religious tensions in the past, but police refused to say whether the villagers were from different faiths or if religion played a part in Friday's violence. "Police have reason to believe this was a carefully orchestrated attack," he said, noting that the three dead were all from Horale.