Family of suicide bombers attack Indonesia churches; 13 dead
Suicide bombers who carried out deadly attacks on three churches in Indonesia's
second-largest city on Sunday were a family of six that included two young
children, police said, as the world's most populous Muslim nation recoiled in
horror at one of the worst attacks on its Christian minority.
At least 13 people, including all six family members, died in the attacks in
Surabaya and at least 41 were injured, according to police, in acts that
Indonesia's president condemned as "barbaric."
The bombings were the worst to target churches in Indonesia since a series of
attacks on Christmas Eve in 2000 killed 15 people and wounded nearly 100.
Religious minorities in Indonesia, especially Christians, have been repeatedly
targeted by militants.
National police chief Tito Karnavian said that the father exploded a car
bomb, two sons aged 18 and 16 used a motorcycle for their attack, and the mother
was with daughters aged 12 and 9 for her attack.
Karnavian said the family had returned to Indonesia from Syria, where until
recently the Islamic State group controlled significant territory.
The extremist group claimed responsibility for Sunday's attacks in a
statement carried by its Aamaq news agency.
The first attack struck the Santa Maria Roman Catholic Church in Surabaya,
police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera told reporters at the scene. That blast
was followed by a second explosion minutes later at the Christian Church of
Diponegoro and a third at the city's Pantekosta Church, Mangera said.
A witness described the woman's attack at the Diponegoro church, saying she
was carrying two bags when she arrived.
"At first officers blocked them in front of the churchyard, but the woman
ignored them and forced her way inside. Suddenly she hugged a civilian then (the
bomb) exploded," said the witness, a security guard who identified himself as
Antonius.
Mangera said three unexploded homemade bombs, two at the Pantekosta church
and one at the Diponegoro church, were detonated by a bomb squad.
Shattered glass and chunks of concrete littered the entrance of the Santa
Maria Church, which was sealed off by armed police. Rescue personnel treated
victims at a nearby field while officers inspected wrecked motorcycles in the
parking lot that had been burned in the explosion.
A street merchant outside the church said she was blown several meters
(yards) by the blast.
"I saw two men riding a motorbike force their way into the churchyard. One
was wearing black pants and one with a backpack," said the merchant, Samsia, who
uses a single name. "Soon after that the explosion happened."
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo visited the scenes of the attacks and described
them as "cowardly actions" that were "very barbaric and beyond the limit of
humanity."
In Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, the Indonesian Church Association condemned
the attacks.
"We are angry," said Gormar Gultom, an official with the association, but
urged people to let the police investigation take its course.
Indonesia's two largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and
Muhammadiyah, also condemned the attacks.
Separately, national police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said police fatally shot
four suspected militants and arrested two others early Sunday in West Java
towns. It wasn't clear whether the shootings were connected to the church
attacks.
"They have trained in order to attack police," Wasisto said, identifying the
militants as members of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, an Islamic State
group-affiliated network of about two dozen extremist groups that has been
implicated in a number of attacks in Indonesia over the past year.
Jakarta police placed the capital and surrounding areas on high alert, while
the transportation ministry warned airports to be on guard.
The church attacks came days after police ended a hostage-taking ordeal by
imprisoned Islamic militants at a detention center near Jakarta in which six
officers and three inmates died. IS claimed responsibility.
Indonesia has carried out a sustained crackdown on militants since bombings
by al-Qaida-affiliated radicals in Bali in 2002 killed 202 people. In recent
years, the country has faced a new threat as the rise of IS in the Middle East
invigorated local militant networks.
Christians, many of whom are from the ethnic Chinese minority, make up about
9 percent of Indonesia's 260 million people.
Source: Associated Press
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