Hundreds of indigenous Dayak youths rallied in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Thursday to protest the police's removal of their banners calling for the disbanding of a hard-line Islamic group.

The protesters had put up the banners in the city on Wednesday morning as part of growing opposition in Kalimantan to the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). On Wednesday afternoon, police took the banners down and later that evening hosted a dialogue between Dayak and FPI representatives.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Mukson Munandar, the provincial police spokesman, said Thursday's protest was simply a flare-up of tensions and called on all sides not to let the dispute get out of hand.

The incident comes just a month after Dayaks in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, stormed the local airport to prevent an FPI delegation from arriving there. The FPI has long been decried by civil society groups for its vigilantism and violent actions.