The local Kalimantan newspaper reported that on Thursday, Dayaks killed 13 Madurese people when they came out of hiding from forests near Pangapit village north of Sampit. The paper says one hundred homes were torched after the residents were evacuated to Sampit. This report has not been confirmed. In Sampit the military are patrolling the streets. It is calm and quiet in the town where the worst attacks took place two weeks ago.
Residents remain afraid to walk the streets at night.
Approximately 500 people have died in the ethic violence in the Sampit region after Dayaks went on a bloody rampage against the migrant Madurese, beheading many victims and forcing about 50,000 people to flee. On Friday about 200 Dayaks, some with spears and knives, set fire to a truck and checked passing buses and cars in Palangkaraya. Witnesses said there was no sign of security forces on the streets there, where the previous day police fired into a crowd of angry Dayaks, killing at least four, just minutes after President Abdurrahman Wahid left the area. One truck full of men, brandishing spears and other weapons, drove through the city centre where a small police hut and a truck had been set on fire. In Jakarta, Wahid told a congregation of Muslims that he had met several Dayak community leaders during his visit and said they would accept back the Madurese after peace returned.