April 3, 1999
Web posted at: 4:11 a.m. EST (0911 GMT)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Scores of extra troops have been rushed to trouble spots in the Spice Islands after bloody Christian-Muslim clashes.

The Republika newspaper said Christians attacked Muslims at a mosque on Friday after prayers in Larat village in the Kai islands, about 3,285 km (2,035 miles) east of Jakarta.

The death toll from several days of communal clashes rose to 20, reports and witnesses said on Saturday. After the latest outbreak, the main town of Tual was quiet on Saturday.

Republika quoted southeast Moluccas regent Husein Rahayan as saying communications from predominantly Muslim Larat had been cut off since the clash on Friday.

Witnesses in the Kai islands said at least 20 people had died since fighting broke out on Wednesday. That toll did not include any possible casualties from Friday's violence.

One witness said Muslims were unable to seek treatment at local hospitals.

"They cannot take them to the hospitals because the hospitals are occupied by Christian groups," he said.

Thousands of people have fled their homes and dozens of buildings have been destroyed in the clashes.

More than 200 people have died this year in communal violence in the Moluccas, mostly in and around the provincial capital of Ambon, several hundred kilometres northwest of the Kai islands.

The unrest is expected to worsen before the June 7 parliamentary election, the country's first taste of democracy in decades.

Indonesia has been racked by waves of violence over the past year.

Ethnic, religious and social tensions have boiled over as the world's fourth most populous nation grapples with its worst economic and political crisis in decades.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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