Surabaya – Angry mobs in Indonesia's East Java have attacked shops and homes owned by Moslems they accuse of supporting ethnic Chinese traders, religious sources and residents said on Monday.

In the provincial capital Surabaya, more ethnic Chinese were reported fleeing amid fears of further violence. Dozens were said to have left from the local airport, with some reported heading for Hong Kong and others to Singapore. "Anonymous telephone calls have made me scared," one ethnic Chinese trader, who asked not to be identified, said before he left for the Indonesian island of Bali.

Residents said a number of Chinese-owned shops in Surabaya have been closed in recent days after rumours of imminent violence towards them. Others are selling goods cheap to liquidate stocks and obtain cash, they said.

Locals said a crowd of about 200 people drove through the Mumbulsari, Silo and Kencong sub-districts in the Jember regency, 150 km (92 miles) southeast of Surabaya, late on Sunday and early on Monday, threatening Moslem leaders who had expressed concern over recent attacks on Chinese. Residents said the crowd set three shops belonging to Moslems on fire, but there was no word of injuries.

In the past few weeks, ethnic Chinese-owned shops in the strongly Islamic Jember district have suffered a number of attacks, and Chinese traders have sought help from local Moslem leaders.

One Moslem preacher in the district said mobs of people from outside the district attacked his house late on Sunday, accusing him of supporting Chinese rather than Moslems. "They shouted 'The preachers should be defending Islamic followers but they are instead defending the Chinese'," preacher Imam Harromain said.

Another preacher in Selo, Mustofa, who owned a shop in the Kencong village, was also intimidated by the unknown crowd, local residents said. "They drove around the village shouting 'The preachers are anti-Moslem, they support the Chinese'," one resident said.

A crowd also threatened Nurhaimi, another community leader in Kencong, who is linked to an Islamic boarding school where Chinese who recently fled their homes after attacks were offered shelter, one resident said. Military officials in the district refused to comment on the incidents but have pledged to protect all citizens. The officials said there was no need for anybody to flee from the smaller villages to the larger towns for protection.

Chinese have been fleeing East Java for days after alleged intimidation and ahead of Indonesia's independence day on August 17. One local religious leader has said violence against Chinese would increase ahead of the nationalist celebration.