Mobs run riot in Ambon

Security forces opened fire on crowds

At least 20 people have been killed and more than 50 injured in clashes between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia's Moluccan Islands.

Most of the victims were said to have been shot as security forces opened fire to disperse rioting mobs fighting in the provincial capital Ambon.

The dead include 12 Muslims, one Christian, a 19-year-old policeman and an army soldier, according to the state Antara news agency.

Thousands have died in religious violence in the Moluccas since January 1999 when fighting first erupted in Ambon.

The latest clashes, which broke out on Tuesday, are the worst in several months.

It is feared the violence has been fuelled by the recent arrival of hardline Muslims who have declared what they call a "holy war" against Christians.

Holy war

Eyewitnesses have described the current situation in Ambon as warlike, with heavy gunfire and explosions in the city.

The fresh violence was said to have been sparked by rumours circulating in the Muslim sector that a member of their community had been attacked by Christians.

The authorities say as many as 2,000 members of the radical Muslim organisation, Lashkar Jihad, have now arrived in the Moluccan Islands ready to fight a holy war.

A military official in Ambon said there had been another big influx of Lashkar Jihad volunteers at the beginning of this week.

They had travelled hundreds of kilometres from the central island of Java after receiving several weeks of military training near the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.