SUICIDE BOMBERS ATTACK 3 CHURCHES IN INDONESIA
At least 11 were reported dead, dozens hurt in one of the worst attacks on the country’s Christian minority
Eleven people were killed and dozens were wounded when suicide bombers on motorcycles, including a woman with children, attacked three churches in Surabaya, Indonesia. The first bombing struck the Santa Maria Roman Catholic Church in Surabaya, killing four people, including one or more bombers. Minutes later, the second explosion occurred at the Christian Church of Diponegoro and the third one at the city’s Pantekosta Church. The attacks were reportedly carried out by at least five suicide bombers.
Suicide bombers on motorcycles and including a woman with children targeted Sunday Mass congregations in three churches in Indonesia’s second-largest city, killing at least 11 people and wounding dozens in one of the worst attacks on the country’s Christian minority, police said.
The bombings were the deadliest to target churches in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, 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.
The first attack struck the Santa Maria Roman Catholic Church in Surabaya, killing four people, including one or more bombers, police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera told reporters at the scene. He said two police officers were among a total of 41 wounded.
The 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.
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo arrived in Surabaya, the East Java provincial capital, in the aftermath of the attacks, Mangera said.
A senior police official said the bombings were carried out by at least five suicide bombers, including a veiled woman who had two children with her. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.
A witness described the woman, saying she was carrying two bags at the Diponegoro church.
“At first officers blocked them in front of the churchyard, but the woman ignored and forced her way inside. Suddenly she hugged a civilian then (the bomb) exploded,” said the witness, a civilian guard named Antonius.
A local police chief, David Triyo Prasojo, said a bomb squad detonated an unexploded bomb at the Diponegoro church.
Shattered glass and chunks of concrete littered the entrance of the Santa Maria Church, which was sealed off by heavily armed police. Rescue personnel treated victims on a nearby field while officers inspected wrecked motorcycles in the parking lot that had been burned in the explosion.