400 killed in Muslim-Christian clashes in Indonesian island
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

JAKARTA, DECEMBER 30: Sectarian clashes between Muslims and Christians in the northern parts of the eastern Indonesian island of Halmahera have left 255 people dead since December 21, the military there said today.

The violence appears to have been sparked by similar clashes on the island of Ambon where more than 60 people have died this week.

Clashes erupted in the town of Tobelo late on Monday with Christians angered by reports of the burning of a main Protestant church in Ambon earlier that day, an army officer said from Tobelo.

"The latest report that we have sent to our superior showed that 255 people were killed, 127 severely injured and 78 lightly injured. This toll is from Tuesday until today," Captain Made Parsim, who heads the sub-district military station in Tobelo, told Agence France Presse.

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