Mob kills 12 Christians in Indonesia

A group of Muslim militants armed with swords and guns and throwing home-made bombs killed at least 12 Christians in Indonesia's troubled Moluccas region yesterday.

A group of Muslim militants armed with swords and guns and throwing home-made bombs killed at least 12 Christians in Indonesia's troubled Moluccas region yesterday.

The mob descended on Soya village, a Christian neighbourhood of Ambon city, before dawn, setting fire to homes as people slept. The violence then spread to the city centre where a bomb exploded.

It was the latest outbreak of violence in several days of fresh trouble in Ambon, shattering a deal brokered in February that sought to end three years of conflict in which 6,000 people have died. The attacks came after a Christian separatist group marked the 52nd anniversary of a failed independence bid. Muslim crowds took to the streets to protest.