By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
POSO, INDONESIA (ANS) -- The Indonesian Central government has sent an additional 1,000 police officers to Poso,in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, after the latest incident of violence against Christians.
According to International Christian Concern (ICC), a Washington, D.C-based human rights group, shots were heard in Tiwaa village (15km from Poso) at approximately 9:00 p.m., December 1. One Christian resident of the village, Pian, stepped out his front door and was shot. He is in critical condition in the Poso Public Hospital. Tiwaa is located next to another village that was attacked on Saturday, Nov. 29.
Two villagers were killed in this previous attack including the chief of the village. Jihad warriors probably trained by JI (an Al Qaeda affiliated disbanded Jihad group) have been attempting to stir up hatred between Christians and Muslims and create a major confrontation. Since these attempts have not yet created their desired effect, it appears that the Jihad is now targeting Christian leaders (either the church leaders or the leaders of the village who are Christians).
Mr. Yusuf Kalla, the Minister of Indonesian Social Welfare, has said that there are outsiders stirring things up in Poso, but he will not speculate as to who these parties are. Whether he names names or not, it is well known that JI trained thousands of locals for Jihad and brought in outsiders to assist in the attacks of the last few years.
In an outdated but welcome move, the Central government has admitted that the local governments are not doing their work correctly, and have sent special teams to investigate how the local governments are handling the conflict.
ICC urges Christians everywhere to pray fervently for the Muslim and Christian residents of Central Sulawesi. Pray for peace to reign.
ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC delivers humanitarian aid, trains and supports persecuted pastors, raises awareness in the US Church regarding the problem of persecution, and is an advocate for the persecuted on Capitol Hill and the State Department.