Jakarta – Six people went missing Thursday after the Kijang van they rode in was attacked on the road linking Poso and Tentena in Central Sulawesi.

"The car was found on Thursday afternoon between the Watuawu-Pandiri villages. It was burned down and the six passengers were missing," spokesman of the Tadulako military resort, First Lt. Abdul Haris, told Antara Friday.

Haris said security officers continued the hunt for the attackers, suspected to be hiding in nearby villages in Lage district, some 25 kilometers south of Poso. "If the attackers did not take the passengers hostage, it is most likely that they are hiding in nearby villages to avoid an arrest," he said.

Thursday's attack was the third in the past 17 days. The first attack occurred on June 11 on a road near Tentena, a small town near Lake Poso. Two passengers of a cargo van were burned to death. The van was on its way to Makassar from Palu when it wasattacked then burned, said Haris.

The second attack occurred on June 19 in Ranonuncusubdistrict, Poso Kota. The target was a public transit vehicle. Two passengers were seriously wounded in the attack.

The Tadulako military also reported that on Thursday a group of snipers attacked refugees in a refugee camp in Sayo subdistrict. On the same day unidentified people burned the house belonging to Azzer Umar in Lawanga subdistrict, Poso Kota. A refugee, Ito Kidi, 58, suffered a serious bullet wound during the attack on the refugee camp.

Poso has been rocked by inter-religious conflicts in the past three years. Hundreds of people have been killed in the violence and thousands have been displaced.