Jakarta – Thirteen people were killed when Indonesian troops and police opened fire to fend off a mass attack by rioters in troubled West Kalimantan province, a report said Thursday.
Singkawang, the main town of the Sambas district, remained tense Thursday, a day after thousands of ethnic Malays and Dayaks entered the town and clashed with security forces blocking their attempt to free 100 people detained earlier in the week.
"It is still tense like yesterday and all our force are deployed to safeguard the city," Second Sergeant Tarkadi of the district military post in Singkawang said Thursday.
He said groups of civilians, some armed, were still gathering at various points, especially the northern outskirts of Singkawang.
The reported death toll of 13 for Wednesday could not be immediately confirmed by officials. A television report put the number of deaths at 12 and a Dayak source put the death toll at four. "There's no exact figure yet. We're still collecting data," Second Sergeant Tarkasim of Singkawang district police told AFP.
A fight broke out at the Abdul Azis state hospital as several armed Madurese settlers attempted to enter the hospital where more than half of the 100 patients there were Dayaks and Malays under treatment for injuries in Wednesday's clash.
"Several Madurese youths were trying to force their way into the hospital carrying weapons but they didn't succeed as a policeman on duty stood firm and assisted by family members of patients fought off the men until reinforcements arrived," said Sudarto, a private security guard at the hospital.
Sudarto said two men were arrested and taken to the police post while several others fled. None of the some 100 patients in the hospital or their visitors were harmed, he said.
The Dayak source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP at least four died Wednesday after being shot by soldiers while 20 others were injured in clashes. The source also said more were shot and injured near a high school and at a bus station in Singkawang.
The private Surya Citra Televisi (SCTV) television station reported that 12 people were killed in the clash. SCTV also said thousands of people attended the funeral of the victims Thursday, shouting and condemning the military, while Singkawang was besieged by thousands of people, still demanding the release of the 100 people in police detention. Security personnel formed barricades to prevent the mob from entering the town, it said.
On Wednesday, people armed with makeshift weapons arrived from neighbouring districts on board a convoy of trucks, pickups and motorcycles, to demand the release of 100 people detained by police following two days of violence in Singkawang.
District police chief Lieutenant Colonel M. Nurdin was hit in the hand by a poisoned arrow Wednesday, Second Sergeant Sumantri of the district police said, but the officer was back on duty Thursday. Police and riot troops arrested 46 people during the half-hour clash, Suara Karya newspaper reported said.