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The villages of Sepe and Silanca, some 10 miles from the city of Poso, have been burned to the ground. Reports from several sources confirm that August 12 attacks on the Christian villages started after armed forces guarding the villages were unexpectedly withdrawn.

Sepe, with a population of 1,250, was attacked at 6:30 p.m. by a large group of men dressed in black and firing automatic weapons. Some villagers tried to fend off the attackers with farming implements and bamboo spears but soon joined the rest of the villagers in flight.

"The sound of automatic weapons was coming from every direction mixed with the hysterical voices of mothers calling for their children, and shrieks of fear from the children," said the Rev. Vence Waani, pastor of the Sepe Pentecostal Church. "The flames were engulfing the houses. It was a scene of horror."

Waani, his wife, and child were forced to flee the burning village as attackers fired volleys of bullets behind them. They did not see their newly-rebuilt church burnt down.

By 8:30p.m., the village of Sepe was gutted. The Sepe Pentecostal Church and the Eklesia Protestant Church were destroyed. The attackers moved on to Silanca where they followed the same pattern. They chased away the villagers, looted their houses and then set them alight.

All the Christians from the two villages—some 2,500—sought refuge in Pandiri and Watuawu, further south of Poso on the road to Tentena. Their number is now increased by villagers from neighboring Tambaro and Maliwuko who no longer feel protected by the armed forces. One report states that four trucks carrying a small army unit drove to Silanca and Sepe once the attacks were over.

Suspicions of collusion between the armed forces and the Muslim extremists have grown among Christian leadership. The Rev. Rinaldi Damanik, secretary of the General Synod and coordinator of the Crisis Center of the Protestant Church in Central Sulawesi (GKST), has recently spoken out against what he sees as the authorities' bias against the local Christians.

"For the people of Central Sulawesi, this is exactly the style of the Laskar Jihad and is what has been happening since the beginning of the Poso conflict," Damanik said. "Car shootings, bus bombings, attacks in villages, the killing of innocent civilians … "

In November and December, 2001, the Laskar Jihad (Muslim extremists) and local Muslims attacked and destroyed five villages. Sepe was the last attacked and only partially destroyed due to the defense of the villagers and the timely intervention of additional armed forces sent by the government.

Annette Hammond, an Australian pastor working to distribute aid in the region, said she feared the situation is as dangerous now as it was then.

"This is the second time in just over six months that these people have lost everything they possess and had to flee from their burning village. Have they no right to live in their own land? We need to pray for the Christians in Central Sulawesi," she said.

These recent attacks have mocked the government rehabilitation plan and destroyed people's faith in the Malino Peace Agreement signed between Muslims and Christians last December.

Eight Christians were killed near Malei prior to the Sulawesi and Sepe attacks. All Christian houses in Malei and neighboring Tongko were destroyed. A team from the GKST attempted to recover eight bodies but was blocked. They had to return to the outskirts of Poso to negotiate with the authorities for the release and transport of the bodies.

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August (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46