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Jayapura. Several buildings have been destroyed and residents are fearful after supporters of rival political candidates in the Tolikara district of Papua clashed two days ahead of elections.

Tolikara Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Rahmat Siregar said that the violence started on Tuesday and continued until Wednesday afternoon.

“There has been a clash between supporters of John Tabo and [running mate] Edi Suyanto and supporters of Usman Wanimbo and [running mate] Amos Jikwa,” the officer said.

Tabo is supported by the Golkar Party and Usman is backed by the Democratic Party. They are running for district head.

Rahmat said the violence had halted much of the activity in the district capital, Karubaga, with stores and offices choosing to remain closed.

One witness said the local Democratic Party office had been set on fire, reportedly with a man still inside. It was not immediately clear whether the man had survived the attack.

Authorities could not immediately confirm the incident, which is said to have taken place at around noon on Wednesday.

One group set fire to the local Central Statistics Agency (BPS) office at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

“A number of important documents were destroyed and the building was burned to the ground,” said the BPS Papua chief, Djarot Sutanto. He added that no one was hurt in the incident.

“All our employees immediately sought refuge at a local district police office.”

No one has claimed responsibility for the fire and it was not clear how the riot started. Rahmat declined to confirm whether anyone had been hurt in the riot or the chronology of events.

A similar clash in Tolikara last month resulted in the death of a teenage boy, Yusuf Yikwa.

The deputy chief of the Papua Police, Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw, said he would travel to Tolikara “to assess the situation,” but refused to give details.

The polls are scheduled to open on Friday. There has been no announcement by the General Elections Commission (KPU) of changes to the schedule.

Papua has seen a spate of politically charged violence, particularly in the newly established district of Puncak Papua, where at least 30 people have been killed in a feud lasting nearly seven months.

Supporters of Elvis Tabuni, the speaker of the Puncak Papua legislative council, and backers of Simon Alom, who led the transitional administration during the establishment of the district, have been engaged in running clashes since July over an election dispute.

Siti Zuhro, a regional autonomy expert from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said that given the history of tribal violence in Papua, both the central government and the KPU should pay more attention to elections in the province, particularly in new administrative regions such as Puncak Papua.

Regional elections are prone to disputes and clashes, she said, and could cause widespread conflicts if the KPU fails to assert itself independently.