Family of suicide bombers hits Indonesian churches, 13 killed
Worst strike on minorities since Dec 2000
SURABAYA: Coordinated suicide bombings carried out by members of the same family struck three churches in Indonesia’s second-largest city on Sunday, police said, as the nation recoiled in horror from one of its worst attacks since the 2002 Bali bombings.
At least seven people plus the six family members, who included girls aged 9 and 12, died in the attacks in Surabaya, according to police. At least 41 people were injured in the attacks, which Indonesia’s president condemned as “barbaric.”
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 her two young daughters for her attack. The woman and the two girls were all wearing explosives, Karnavian said.
Karnavian said the family had returned to Indonesia from Syria.
The 2002 bombings on the tourist island of Bali, which killed 202 people in one night, mostly foreigners, are Indonesia’s deadliest terror attack, but the use of children to execute Sunday’s attacks in Surabaya has sent shockwaves of anger and disgust across the sprawling country.
Karnavian named the father as Dita Futrianto and said he was head of the Surabaya cell of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, an Indonesian militant network affiliated with Islamic State that has been implicated in a number of attacks ins Indonesia over the past year.
IS claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attacks in a statement carried by its Amaq news agency.