Jakarta – At least eight people were killed when gunmen opened fire on a boat carrying Muslim refugees in Indonesia's troubled Maluku islands, witnesses were quoted as saying Wednesday.

The motor boat, with 135 people on board, was attacked last week, said Asdi Albar, an official with a group monitoring the violence. Gasoline drums on board the vessel caught fire and the craft ran aground on a small islet near Halmahera, the main island in North Maluku province, he said.

Local police confirmed the incident, saying they couldn't yet identify the attackers. "We are still investigating," Lt. Col. Harrison said from Ternate, the provincial capital. Rescue workers have so far found eight bodies, Albar said. The fate of the other passengers is unclear.

About 4,000 people have died since January 1999, when sectarian violence first broke out in Maluku province, a chain of islands located about 2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles) northeast of Jakarta.

Meanwhile, at least seven people were killed as fresh fighting between Muslims and Christians on Teor, a small island in the southeast of the province. Details were sketchy, but witnesses said clashes broke out Sunday and continued until Tuesday.

Government officials predict the bloodshed could worsen with the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, which this year falls a day after Christmas. In 1999, violence peaked around the time the two faiths celebrated their holy days.