Dayaks broaden violent campaign in Borneo

Madurese struggle for a spot on evacuation trucks

PALANGKARAYA, Indonesia -- Armed gangs of indigenous Dayaks have broadened their campaign of terror in the Indonesian province of Kalimantan, forcing thousands of minority Madurese to flee.

Dayak men, armed with spears and machetes and chanting "War, War!" hunted settlers from the island of Madura hiding in forests, while continuing to besiege about 15,000 refugees sheltering in squalid camps and waiting for the government evacuation.

The violence spread to Central Kalimantan's provincial capital Palangkaraya on the island of Borneo as Dayaks burned dozens of houses and businesses belonging to settlers, many of who sought shelter at a local police station.

The Dayaks set up roadblocks throughout the city, burning tires and threatening motorists with homemade weapons as they searched passing vehicles for Madurese.

No police action

IN-DEPTH Shadows over Indonesia

Indonesia's outnumbered security forces, who have been condemned in the past week for doing too little to stop the bloodshed, have made no attempts to control the situation on Palangkaraya's streets.

Currently, there are three infantry battalions and one of paramilitary police force in the province, security officials in Jakarta said.

"The communal conflict could move to more remote areas that are difficult to reach," Indonesia's top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said. "Action will be taken to prevent it spreading."

Wahid in Cairo

President Abdurrahman Wahid, who is attending a summit of developing nations in Cairo, said elements of the crack special forces brigade had been dispatched.

An injured Madurese boy

An additional army battalion was also on its way to Palangkaraya, Yudhoyono told reporters. Wahid reiterated that the campaign of ethnic cleansing would cease within three days.

However, that was too long for many Madurese who fled by road to the city of Banjarmasin in the neighboring Southern Kalimantan province, hoping that the bloodshed would not spread there.

Government officials said the body count from eight days of killings stood at 270 -- nearly all them Madurese. However, they said the death toll could be as high as 1,000 as uncounted bodies lay rotting in houses and fields.

'Leave or die'

"Any Madurese who stay in this province will be killed," said Dayak fighter Azan Tein. "We have had enough of them. They rape our women. They do not respect our culture. Either they leave or die. Central Kalimantan must be for Dayaks only."

Over 100,000 Madurese were resettled to Indonesia's half of Borneo Island as part of a transmigration program that lasted from the 1960's until last year. The effort was intended to relieve overcrowding in Madura.

However, the program sparked widespread condemnation and the government was accused of ignoring local cultures.

The Dayaks claim the immigrants pushed them off their traditional lands and stole their jobs in the island's gold, tin and copper mines. They also complain of receiving inferior education.

Reformed cannibals

The Madurese, who are strict Muslims, resent the Dayak habits of eating pork and keeping dogs. They also consider them to be lazy and backward.

Meanwhile, Dayaks accuse Madurese of intolerance and violence.

Most Dayaks are Christians, although many still practice ancient animist rituals.

Before Indonesia's former Dutch colonial rulers outlawed headhunting in the late 19th century, the Dayaks were widely known as cannibals. In traditional Dayak belief, consuming the flesh of an enemy endows the eater with the victim's strength.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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