Has been building for days

The latest round of violence erupted Sunday after several members of the region’s small, largely Christian, separatist movement rallied in the city center. Muslims, who view such public displays as a provocation, assaulted the demonstrators, touching off sectarian clashes in the city.

Islamic radicals have been trying to whip up Muslim fervor in the Malukus in reaction to the global war on terrorist groups.

The earlier conflict here galvanized militant Muslims across Indonesia, and it also attracted Islamic fighters from around Southeast Asia and from the Middle East.