Tribal violence stops in Timika

TIMIKA, Papua: A tribal clash that began Monday in Kwamki Lama village in Timika, Papua, died down Thursday after police intervened in the altercation by deploying dozens of personnel.

Local police parked an armed vehicle between two fighting village. Using a loud speaker, the police called for the fighting to stop and for tribal elders to meet with the Mimika regency police chief.

Local residents have resumed their normal activities in the area.

The clash, in which a man was killed and several others injured, began Monday afternoon.

Mimika Police deputy chief Comr. Jeremias Rontini said Monday the conflict erupted after compensation demanded by the downstream village for a rape allegedly committed by a resident of the upstream village went unpaid.

Clashes between groups are widepsread in Mimika, home to one of the world's richest gold mines. A protracted conflict killed 18 people in 2006.

Another conflict between groups in Kwamki Lama claimed eight lives in 2007. - JP