Maluku sectarian conflict

The Maluku sectarian conflict (Indonesian: Konflik Sektarian Kepulauan Maluku) was a period of ethno-political conflict along religious lines that occurred in the Maluku Islands in Indonesia, with particularly serious disturbances on the islands of Ambon and Halmahera. The duration of the conflict is generally dated from the start of the Reformasi era in early 1999 to the signing of the Malino II Accord on 13 February 2002.

The principal causes of the conflict are attributed to general political and economic instability in Indonesia following the fall of Suharto and the devaluation of the rupiah during and after a wider economic crisis in Southeast Asia. The forthcoming division of the existing province of Maluku into the new provinces of Maluku and North Maluku exacerbated existing district political disputes further and, as the political dispute had been characterized along religious lines, inter-communal fighting broke out between Christian and Muslim communities in January 1999, cascading into what could be described as all-out warfare and atrocities against the civilian population committed by both sides. The main belligerents were therefore religious militia from both faiths, including the well-organised Islamist Laskar Jihad, and Indonesian government military forces.