JAKARTA, Indonesia — At least 17 people died May 17 in an eastern Indonesian province after violence erupted between Christians and Muslims amid rumors that weapons had been illegally brought into the strife-torn province.
Fighting between the two groups has claimed at least a thousand lives since first breaking out in Ambon in January 1999.
The violent outbreak came days after about 600 Muslim paramilitaries from Java arrived in the province, joining at least 1,000 fighters already there. About 3,000 more troops from Java are expected to arrive in the Moluccas to wage a jihad, or holy war, but military authorities in Moluccas chastised officials in Java for allowing the paramilitaries to depart.
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