Maj. Gen. Noer Muis, chief of the Pattimura Military Command, which oversees the Maluku and North Maluku provinces, said he believed that there were many weapons and explosives left over from the conflict that were still in the civilians' hands.

"Based on our analysis, there are still many weapons that have not yet been surrendered," he told The Jakarta Post after destroying the firearms at Merdeka Square in Ambon.

Sectarian conflict rocked the area on and off from 1999 to 2002, leaving thousands of Muslims and Christians dead and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.

The weapons destroyed Friday were seized from or surrendered by residents during 2009.

"We received all the weapons without conducting any fire contact. Residents voluntarily surrendered them after we approached them," Noer said.

During 2009, he added, his office seized and received a total of 722 firearms, comprising 30 official weapons and 692 handmade ones.

Of the seized weapons, 447 were long-barreled firearms and 245 were short-barreled ones.

Apart from that, 9,276 ammunitions and 63 explosives were also seized or received the same year.

They were to be destroyed at the Pattimura Military Command's main regiment in Ambon.

Of the ammunition, 8,757 were small caliber, 111 were big caliber and 408 were special caliber.

Of the explosives, 58 were handmade bombs and the remaining five were hand grenades.

Of the official firearms seized or received, a number belonged to the military units that once were assigned in Ambon during the conflict and others were smuggled as they lacked registration numbers. They comprised various types, including M16, SS1, AK and Moser.

Unlike the handmade weapons, Noer said the official firearms seized or received were not destroyed but were sent to the Army Weapon Center in Jakarta.

Noer said Friday's destruction had been the first done in Ambon following the conflict.

"It has been done over and over. But there are still weapons and explosives in the hands of civilians."

He, therefore, called on the people to voluntarily surrender them as if they were found of keeping them they could be detained for illegal possession of the weapons and explosives.

Noer added that the number of handmade weapons seized or received the post conflict so far had reached tens of thousands while that of the official ones were had reached more than 300, including the heavy type of SMB with ammunitions of 12.7 caliber.

Separately, Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu said the residents' voluntary move to surrender the firearms to security apparatus was a proof of an increased social awareness among them as well as a sign they were willing to destroy not just the violence but also the symbols of violence.

He also said the weapon and explosive destruction must be understood as the commitment of Maluku people to cut of the chain of violence.

"They now understand conflicts as only leaving them with universal suffering and misery while peace fosters civilization, love and humanity."

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