Policemen shot in Moluccas unrest

Muslim and Christian gangs have reverted to arms

A sniper has shot dead at least two policemen in the Indonesian city of Ambon, where violence between Muslims and Christians flared up on Sunday.

About 1,000 paramilitary police and troops have been sent to the city in the Moluccan Islands, where makeshift barricades separate the communities.

But despite the heightened security presence, at least 24 people have been killed since Sunday, police said.

The bloodshed is the worst since a peace deal was signed in 2002.

VIOLENCE IN THE MOLUCCAS Conflict between Christians and Muslims began in 1999 More than 5,000 people killed in two years of fighting Peace deal signed in 2002, but sporadic violence still occurs Muslims say Christians have better jobs Christians threatened by influx of Muslims since the 1970s Moluccas violence: Press reaction

The weekend clashes, in which more than 100 people were injured, were sparked by a parade by Christians to mark a failed independence bid 50 years ago.

Now it appears that the police deployed to help restore order have become the latest victims.

The dead policemen were caught in clashes while patrolling Talake district at dawn on Tuesday, police spokesman Brigadier General Soenarko said. The snipers who shot the officers were not identified.

Most shops and offices remained closed on Tuesday, but there were signs the violence may be easing.

"It's still tense in some spots, but less so than yesterday," said Endro Prasetyo, police spokesman for the Moluccas. "We can hear gunfire but it's not often."

The BBC's correspondent in Jakarta, Rachel Harvey, says rumours continue to circulate about the possibility that unspecified outside forces may have had a hand in the violence.

Our correspondent says the speed with which it escalated does perhaps suggest a degree of planning, but who might want to provoke such a conflict, and why, remains a mystery.

In 1999 a brutal conflict between Christians and Muslims erupted without warning.

More than 5,000 people died in the region before the two sides signed a government-sponsored peace pact in 2002.

But an employee at the local UN mission, which was attacked on Sunday, said conditions in the province were the same as at the beginning of the conflict.

"The Christians remain in their sector and the Muslims remain in theirs," Olin Tutamahu said.

"There is a clear demarcation line and no one crosses it either way."