Interview by Jeff Hammond
with Ati
Palu, November 21, 2001

J: In front of me I have Ati. She was one of my wife's personal maids for a number of years, when my family lived in Tentena, Central Sulawesi. She also became a student in the Bible school at the Tentena Bible School, where she graduated, and then she became a pastor's wife. On the 15th-16th November 2001, her village of Pantangolemba, just near the city of Poso, was attacked by jihad warriors. And she is going to tell us her story of what happened that night, just a few days ago, when her village was attacked and destroyed by the laskar jihad or the jihad warriors.

Ati: My name is Mrs Ati Tomana, wife of a minister. I am 40 years old. The events occurred in the village of Pantangolemba, about 10 o'clock on 15-16 November 2001. They took place from 10 o'clock in the evening until almost 3 o'clock early morning, the next day. The enemies came in and surrounded the village of Pantangolemba. They let off gunshots as a code that the troops were ready. After that they came and burned down Pantangolemba. So many jihad troops came in! The local people were afraid, and the guards from the third post came to wake up all the people and let them know that the enemy had arrived. And everyone came out of their homes because they were scared by the explosions and the houses beginning to burn down, which was so....terrifying. The local people were told to gather in the church. Then the Indonesian Army went with the people, but all they did was shoot in the air as a sign for the people to retreat and keep moving backwards. So all along the village, they burned down everything for about 1km and maybe about 200 or more houses were completely burned down. Then about 2 o'clock in the morning, those who had gathered in the church were told to leave because the troops were getting closer and the bombs and unceasing explosions from the guns were getting louder, so that the local people were terrified. They left the church, they were advised to do so, and they went down into a ditch and hid there until about 3 o'clock. After the explosions had stopped, they tried to leave the jungle but it was obvious that shooting was still taking place, so the people were forced to run back and hide again till about 6 o'clock. By then there were no more gunshots, so they came out and those who saw that there houses were gone immediately left to go to Tangkura. Then the villagers who remained could see that there were still strong forces gathered there. From what we could see, there were many troops. We could see more than about 300 on the road and behind them, yes, there were still many more. It was very frightening to see them: all wearing black clothes and wearing masks and carrying sharp weapons. Then .... in the morning they left the village.

J: What was their formation as they came in to the village?

Ati: They were just shooting into the air as they came in, the code that they were ready to attack, and when the Indonesian Army confronted them, yes it was just a code for the people to retreat. the Indonesian Army soldiers just shot in the air....They weren't aiming at anything.

J: So what did they shoot at? Where did the Indonesian Army soldiers shoot?

Ati: They just shot into the air, so they wouldn't hit anything or anyone, so they wouldn't hit the jihad soldiers.

J: And how many Indonesian Army soldiers were guarding the village?

Ati: Only seven were guarding the village.

J: Was that the total number who were on guard there or were there some that left their post?

Ati: Two of them disappeared and were only seen again in the morning and the others spread out to other posts.

J: Now, the two who disappeared, were they present when the jihad soldiers came in?

Ati: Yes, they were there and then when the local people were trying to find protection suddenly they could not longer be seen.

J: So, where did they run to?

Ati: These Indonesian Army soldiers just disappeared. We don't know where they went. It was only next morning that they came out and returned to their post.

J: Now these soldiers who disappeared, what was their identity, who were they ... where did they come from?

Ati: They were soldiers from Poso

J: So the Indonesian Army soldiers were Poso people?

Ati: Yes, from Kawua, locals from Kawua.

J: So they were locals from the Poso people?

Ati: Yes, no, yes...original Poso people.

J: Those who ran away, the soldiers who ran away were they local Poso people?

Ati: No.

J: Who were they? You can tell me!

Ati: Bugis ...they were Muslims, the two of them.

J: So they were from the Bugis tribe, they were of the Muslim religion?

Ati: Yes.

J: So they were not from the local Poso tribe?

Ati: No.

J: But they were from the Indonesian Army headquarters in Poso and were appointed to Pantangolemba?

Ati: Yes.

J: When the jihad troops came in, what was their formation? What were they like? When they came in, what were they wearing? What weapons did they have? In what formation did they come in?

Ati: The jihad or the Indonesian Army soldiers?

J: The jihad.

Ati: The jihad came in wearing black clothes and black head coverings and apart from that, you could only see their eyes and their beards, which could clearly be seen.

J: And with what formation did they come into the village?

Ati: When they came into the village, they came in divisions. Some at the back came forward into the center of the village, those who held sacks were in the middle, with those who held military standard weapons on the left and the right sides, lining up with those who had home made weapons, bombs, petrol and other sharp weapons that they were carrying.

J: How did they come into the village? Did they come in running, or how did they come in?

Ati: First of all they came to the edge of the village, before the guard post, crawling face down along the ground. They were all crawling on the ground. After they divided up, they were still crawling along the ground until they came to the back of the village in the form of the letter L. They formed an L shape. When the gunshots were let off as the code that they were ready to attack, they immediately all together entered the houses of the locals.

J: Who was first to see the jihad soldiers coming into the village?

Ati: The guard at the third post.

J: Who were they?

Ati: Wiro, e, his name...

J: Not their names, but were they locals from the village?

Ati: They were locals from Pantangolemba who were guarding the third post together with one Indonesian Army soldier. Now, when they saw the enemy dressed in black and crawling along face down and coming towards the guard post, the Indonesian Army soldier told the others to go back, wake up the people and knock on the electricity poles to let the people know that the enemy had arrived. Then the first soldier remained to confront the jihad soldiers but because he was the only one soldier at the third guard post, he was forced to retreat, which he did.

J: So when the people got the news, what did they do?

Ati: When the gunshots went off and the people heard that the enemy had come in, they came out of their houses and some wanted to take their things, but because the enemy was already in front of them, they left everything behind and they fled. They all fled and first of all went to shelter in the church. Others hid at the back of the village, but when they couldn't stand any more they came out and fled again.

J: And who ordered them to flee to the church?

Ati: The Indonesian Army soldiers

J: So everyone ran into the church?

Ati: Yes. But as it became obvious that the enemy had come in and was coming closer and bombs were exploding, they became extremely afraid and the Village Secretary came and told them to get out and flee to the jungle.

J: And after they fled from the church you said that they had to run to a place where there was water. What was that? Could you tell us please?

Ati: That was because behind the church there was a ditch, a ditch which... because it had been raining that evening and there had been a lot of rain lately, and the ditch was full of water so they went down into it so they couldn't hear the sound of the shooting clearly any more.

J: So how long did they hide in the water?

Ati: As long as.. that means from ten o'clock until three o'clock.

J: That includes you too?

Ati: Yes.

J: So you were also in the water?

Ati: Yes.

J: So, how long were you in the water?

Ati: About 5 hours.

J: So after that, where did you go?

Ati: In the morning after we came out, we went to Tangkura.

J: Now after you saw the village in the morning, how many houses were left and how many had been burned down?

Ati: Over 200 had been burned down, and 50 were left.

J: Why were there still 50 left?

Ati: Because there was an Indonesian Army guard post near the town square, so they didn't have the opportunity to get in there, because maybe about 3 o'clock, it was getting close to dawn and they retreated so that they wouldn't be seen clearly, maybe that's why....

J: How many families were there in Pantangolemba?

Ati: About 300 families.

J: They are all locals, original inhabitants?

Ati: Yes.

J: Were there any refugees from other villages there?

Ati: There were some refugees from Pinedapa, Masani, Saatu.

J: Why were these other refugees in Pantangolemba?

Ati: So they could be close to their market gardens where they were still able to go and harvest their crops.

J: So are their villages still in one piece?

Ati: No, they have been burned to the ground, burned down for the second time.

J: So, their houses have been burned down, then they escaped to your village, now your village has been burned down, so, where have the Christians fled to now?

Ati: They have fled to Sanginora, Debua, Sulewana, to Napu.

J: So, what would you like to ask from churches overseas? What do you hope from overseas churches in the way of help?

Ati: Yes it is our hope that they will help us. There is a big possibility that if local people become refugees, they would find it difficult to make a living. Here although their houses have been burned down, they still want to reap the harvest of their crops. So we hope that if anyone would like to help us that they would help us rebuild our houses, even though they just be simple ones.

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