JAKARTA - Election-related violence hit Indonesia yesterday as a riot broke out during campaigning in central Java and troops fired into the air in Jakarta to disperse thousands of supporters of a Muslim-backed minority party.
Witnesses said up to ten thousand supporters of the Muslim-oriented United Development Party (PPP) attacked an office of the ruling Golkar party in the central Java town of Pekalongan. One man was wounded by a gunshot, they said.
The office, which belongs to the youth wing of Golkar, was pelted with stones and ransacked before police fired warning shots and tear gas to disperse the mob, witnesses said. Five people were injured by stone-throwing and about a score were held by police.
Earlier, police and troops fired warning shots and dozens of tear gas canisters to disperse thousands of PPP supporters who swamped several areas of Jakarta, hurling stones and chanting slogans.