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Ambon. Eleven people were injured, including some by arrows, in a brawl between residents of two villages on the Maluku island of Seram, police and residents said on Thursday.

The fight between residents of Iha and Luhu villages early on Wednesday also left dozens of houses damaged, Maluku Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Johanis Huwae said.

The injured were taken to Ambon Island, south of Seram, by speedboat and are being treated at AlFatah Hospital in Ambon city, the provincial capital.

“The victims had to be evacuated to Hitu on Ambon Island by speedboat while the waves were high and then driven to the hospital so they could get medical treatment,” Johanis said.

The cause of the conflict was not immediately clear, he said.

“We are still trying to determine the trigger, but the most important thing is that the situation there is under control,” he said.

One rumor suggested that the violence was prompted by an affair between two young residents of the villages.

“The residents of Iha and Luhu have close family ties as they marry into each other,” Johanis said, though he did not confirm the rumor.

The Ambon-based Malukunews.com quoted a resident as saying that Iha villagers attacked Luhu in the dead of the night using bows and arrows.

About 30 members of the police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) have been deployed to the scene of the violence and are helping the local police patrol the area between the two villages.

One of those wounded in the fighting, Ali Akbar Payapo, 14, will be sent to Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, to extract an arrow from his chest, a staff member at AlFatah Hospital said.

Antara