"Unseen Wars" looks at the issue of increasing conflict around the globe in small-scale wars fought with anything from semi-automatic weapons to home-made guns or bows and arrows. Such wars are often the result of differing geopolitical designs of neighbouring groups and take place in remote areas of the globe which the western world rarely hears about. The report asserts that these wars are becoming more frequent and wide-scale and are fought with a terror and almost medieval brutality.

Two regions are examined in the documentary, this article focuses on the first, Indonesia. When the Bali bombing took place last year, many were shocked that there was such a potential threat in this region but maybe, asserts reporter Sorious Samura, that is because, "nobody is really looking". Since 2000, there have been violent struggles in over 100 countries, yet we have heard little or nothing of these conflicts. Samura urges, the danger is that once these conflicts begin no matter how small, they often become very hard to stop.

The first example, takes Samura to an island of Indonesia known as Sulawesi where thousands have been killed in the conflicts between Christians and Muslims and tens of thousands displaced from their homes. The village of Poso, once a thriving Christian community is now deserted. Residents have fled to the countryside region of Tentena. On the surface, Tentena looks like a peaceful farming community but it is quickly evident that there are frequent violent struggles taking place between the different religious factions.

Much of the Christian community has been affected by the conflict with churches being burnt, frequent attacks and bombings. The process here is known as 'sterilization'. Tentena used to be a magnet for tourists in its picturesque setting but now violence is everywhere.

In response to the violence, the Christians have their own young militia who vow to defend Christian communities from attack. They have home-made guns and weapons and allege that they never start an attack but are their purely to defend. The self-made rules of conduct of the group are no swearing, no stealing or rape, no burning of places of worship and no killing of women and children unless it is unavoidable, that is, when they are being used as human shields.

Samura asks the teenagers what they were doing before they formed the militia group. Two answered that they were active members of the church youth club and one was attending high school.

As with most conflicts, things are not as clear cut as one faction would want the outside to believe.

Travelling to the Muslim territory, Samura investigates the other side of the conflict. He talks to some of the locals about the fighting and discovers much about the brutal murders by the Christian group, the "Red Forces". Samura is shown the mass graves holding the remains of villagers who were savagely brutalized; women and children mutilated, heads found without bodies and pregnant women with their bellies cutand the babies removed. As Samura passed through the village, their was evidence of burnt out Mosques and homes.

Samura interviews the teenage Muslim militia known as the 'White Forces'. They express their sadness over the violence towards Muslims and again claim that their only purpose too, is to defend never attack. They do little to argue their case however, with their t-shirts reading, "Blood of Islam" and picturing Osama Bin Laden above the text.

Thousands have been killed through the conflict and as with so many of the violent struggles, the trigger was a tiny event, a fight between teenagers. Allegedly a Christian youth ran into a mosque and when he was chased out a group of Christian youths were waiting outside with machetes. Once the violence begins, asserts Samura, it is incredibly hard to contain.