Two people were killed and dozens injured in clashes in Jakarta Wednesday between security forces and people protesting at the bulldozing of a cemetery containing the remains of a Muslim scholar. Police fired tear gas, pepper bullets and water cannon to disperse dozens of men armed with machetes and sticks who had massed in the clashes that lasted all day, witnesses said.
It left the area near Jakarta's international port looking like a war zone, with blood-stained streets and burning police vehicles sending black smoke into the sky. "Two people died and more than 50 were injured the number may rise," national police spokesman Zainuri Lubis told reporters. City spokesman Cucu Ahmad Kurnia earlier gave a higher injured toll.
"Seven people have been critically injured one (security officer) had his hand cut off and another had his stomach ripped out with a machete," Kurnia told AFP. "Another 83 people had serious and light injuries, mostly head injuries from being pelted with rocks," he added.
Most of the injured were members of the security forces, he added. An AFP photographer saw members of the public order force - which is different from the regular police - beating, clubbing, kicking and stomping on injured protesters. Demonstrators were also seen hitting security officers with sticks and stamping on those who fell.
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