(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - UIul Albab, 39, said the anti-Shia Salafis on Friday evening ransacked his home and an adjoining shop he owned in Karangpenang.
He added that he suspected the Salafi looters were members of the same group of Wahhabi extremists who had attacked and set fire to a nearby Shia Muslim boarding school on Thursday.
He said that the Salafi looters took motorcycles, clothes and everything of value in the house.
“The entire contents of the shop that is adjoining the house was also gone,” Ulul said.
Ulul is one of the 351 Shiites in the region who are now seeking shelter elsewhere following Thursday’s attack on the boarding school.
He and the others were evacuated by local officials to the Sampang sports stadium.
He said that they were willing to leave once they had reassurances from the district police that their property and goods would be kept safe.
“The fact is, the property of our friends is still being looted by the anti-Shia Salafis. Where is the promise that was made to us? Is it because we are a minority that we are treated like this?” asked a tearful Iklil Almilal, also a Shiite, at the shelter.
Iklil said that they did not know for sure whether the livestock they left in their village was still there. “What is clear is that if there is no certainty provided by the district authority or the Sampang police, it is better for us not to return home,” Iklil said.
Meanwhile, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that other Shia properties were also looted in the area.
“We are still receiving reports from the people who have fled that a number of houses belonging to the Shiites in Nangkernang are being looted by unidentified Salafis,” said Andy Irfan, coordinator of the local branch of Kontras.
He said that Shia families in the area continued to face threats and that the continued looting has convinced them the police are not serious about restoring order.
“The laissez faire approach of the Sampang district authorities, the East Java government, the Central government and Komnas HAM [the National Commission on Human Rights] are a form of human rights violations and therefore just evacuating the Shiites is not the solution,” Andy said. He urged the government to come up with policies protecting the Shiites.
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