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gious and racial tensions erupted into violence”. 78 In an interview, a Muslim resident from the predominatelyChristian area that was first attacked stated that in the afternoon he had heard stone-throwing,but did not pay much attention because fights between Muslim and Christian neighbourhoods were socommon.He reported:A Muslim crowd came and attacked. They came across the bridge into the village in large numbers.He came out of the house to look carrying a Quran, so people would know he was a Muslim.He had lived in the area all his life, but he did not recognize the men leading the mob – all heknew was that they weren’t from the area. Some five people at the front were wearing a whitecloth on their arms. The attackers tossed burning rags into houses. His house was burned to theground, like every other house in the neighbourhood. People were also shouting that the mosquenearby had been burned, although it had not been touched. Eventually, the riot police came,but only after everything was already destroyed. From there, the crowd went on to a market area inthe centre of town. 79 (Emphasis mine)According to a Muslim resident of Ambon, rumours that mosques and churches had been burned circulatedduring the whole afternoon and evening of January 19. Residents heard these rumours beforeany smoke was signalled in the city. “The rumours preceded the event and, contrary to laws of nature,where there was fire no smoke had been seen”. 80 Instead, violence was fuelled by a surplus of information,misinformation, and suspicion circulating like wildfire across Ambon. 81At about 20:00, a Christian group gathered and burned a few kiosks around their church before goingafter the pedicabs owned largely by Butonese and Bugi migrants. They piled the pedicabs into a hugestake, then set the stack alight. 82 During the night, Muslims were handing out white armbands andheadbands to other Muslims so that they would be able to identify each other. Christians, in turn, werewearing red head cloths, and the two sides were referred to as the “Whites” and the “Reds”. 83In the evening in another neighbourhood, a Christian mob of about twenty people per group came toattack, claiming that their church had been burned, that was in fact untouched. An Ambonese Muslimfrom the area recalled to Human Rights Watch:They destroyed houses with iron pipes and rocks, smashing everything. Some of the mob wantedto break into the houses, but he heard someone shout “Don’t go in yet!”. Then he heard thebanging on electric pole. Three times meant “Come together” and banging many times veryrapidly sent a different message, he was not sure what. There was clearly a leader giving the signals.The mob came back four hours later and went into each house, looting and stealing.Participants were encouraged to store the looted goods in the church before claimed burned, sothat they would not be accused of stealing. The police came once or twice in the midst of all thisbut not to guard the neighbourhood, only to take a look and pass by on patrol. The AmboneseMuslim witness found refugee with a priest. He said the targets of the attackers were Buton,Bugis, Minang Sumatra, and Javanese, i.e. the migrants. The Chinese neighbours were notbothered, but on the Muslim houses, obscenities against Islam and pro-RMS slogans werescrawled 84 .78798081828384HRW, The Violence in Ambon, 10.HRW, The Violence in Ambon, 13.Interview in Spyer, Fire without Smoke, 8.Interview in Spyer, Fire without Smoke, 8.HRW, The Violence in Ambon, 12.HRW, The Violence in Ambon, 12.HRW, The Violence in Ambon, 13.25