Fresh violence in the Moluccas
Rioting and violence has again broken out in the Moluccas. Three teenage girls were killed and at least eight were injured when a bomb exploded at a sports centre in the capital of the Moluccas, Ambon, last Thursday. The bombing sparked off street riots. Yesterday a Christian man was burnt to death when a mob set fire to his van. The rioting was apparently triggered by news that three Muslim women had been shot dead on a beach on the island of Sapura, according to the BBC last night. More than 13,500 people have been killed in sectarian violence in the Moluccas over the past three years, the Missionary News Service report. In February a peace accord was signed between leaders of the Moslem and Christian communities. The Diocesan Catholic Crisis Centre in Ambon who have been closely involved in reconciling the two communities, said they hoped the truce would hold, in spite of these latest incidents.