Jakarta – The streets of central Indonesia's Sulawesi town remained tense yesterday after new communal conflict erupted, leaving at least two dead, the top local police official said.

Violence flared on Thursday when mobs set ablaze dozens of houses and a mosque, leaving at least two people dead and forcing thousands of residents in Mamasa district to flee their homes, local police chief Brigadier-General Saleh Saaf said.

The conflict began in 2002 over disagreements to split the district into two, Polewali Mamasa and Mamasa. A Muslim community rejected the split because it would be included in the Christian-majority Mamasa district. The Muslims said they feared losing out on jobs or the freedom to go to mosques when they wanted.

The district was officially split on Saturday. The town remained tense yesterday as hundreds of police reinforcements arrived to secure the area, Brig-Gen Saleh said. One man died from spear wounds on Saturday and a boy died in a stampede when hundreds fled their homes, he said.