At least three people were seriously injured in a blast in Ambon, the sectarian violence-hit capital of Indonesia's eastern Maluku island chain, eyewitnesses said. The explosion at 10:30 pm (1330 GMT) was believed to have originated from a car driving through Batumerah, a predominately Islamic area of the city, the scene of sporadic violence between Muslim and Christian communities. All three victims were believed to be Muslims and were taken for treatment at the nearby Al-Fatah and Al-Mukadeh Muslim hospitals.One local journalist, quoting police sources, said that as many as 11 people may have been wounded in the explosion, with three seriously hurt. The vehicle believed to have been involved in the blast was being examined by members of paramilitary police deployed to the area. Ambon and some other parts of the Malukus were ravaged by three years of Muslim-Christian clashes that killed more than 5,000 people before a February 2002 peace pact took effect. But sporadic violence has continued and tension between the two communities has remains high in Ambon and several of its surrounding small islands.
Police last month sent a team of elite snipers to reinforce Ambon, anticipating unrest ahead of a regional separatist group's "independence day" next month. Outlawed supporters of the self-declared Republic of South Maluku are expected to attend a flag-raising ceremony to mark the day on April 25. In April last year, a banned parade by the Christian-affiliated separatists sparked violence in which at least 38 people were killed after a week of bloody communal unrest.