JAKARTA, Nov 26 (AFP) - Security forces opened fire during battles between Muslims and Christians in the strife-torn Indonesian city of Ambon Friday leaving at least 21 dead and more than 100 wounded, residents said.
Ten Muslims, including an army soldier, were killed and 50 wounded by shots fired by police mobile brigade troops, said Malik Selang, an official at the Muslim Al-Fatah mosque. Selang said that "They (the Christians) burned empty houses and accused us of being the perpetrators."
A local journalist who visited the state Dr. Haulussy hospital said by late afternoon the death toll among the Christians had risen to 11 after some died in hospital from their injuries. Six Christians were killed instantly when soldiers deployed in the city opened fire on the crowd, he said.
"All of the victims, those killed and wounded, were shot by troops," the journalist said.
A woman manning an aid post at the Maranatha Protestant church said 60 Christians were wounded by gunshots. They were being treated at a local Christian hospital. "Some of them may be dead, but I don't know exactly," said the woman, who refused to give her name.
The clashes flared when 28 homes were set on fire, the journalist said.
Selang said Christians from the Mardika area threw gasoline bombs at empty houses belonging to other Christians to create the impression that Muslims were setting the fires.
But the woman at Maranatha said the Muslims launched the first attack against Christian residences in the morning, helped by soldiers armed with grenades.
The city was gripped by tension as gunfire echoed through the streets into the late afternoon, the journalist said. But an official at the military command said the situation in the city was under control as security forces from the army, air force and police moved to contain the clashes.
"We don't know how many were injured or killed because we have not received a report from the field," Captain Didi Suwandi said.
Ambon, the capital of Maluku province, and its surroundings have been ravaged by Muslims-Christian clashes since the beginning of the year. The worst riots occurred in January through March and claimed hundreds of lives.
Tens of thousands of people have fled to other provinces.
More than 550 people have been killed in two waves of violence between Christians and Muslims in the province this year.
