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17 injured in suicide church bombing
Source: Agencies |
September 26, 2011, Monday
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A SUICIDE bomber attacked an Indonesian church packed with hundreds of worshippers yesterday, killing himself and injuring at least 17 people, according to police and hospital officials.
The attack in Solo town in Central Java Province came as services were ending.
A witness told local TV station MetroTV that she heard the blast just after she walked out of the Kepunton church.
"Everyone was screaming," she said. "I saw fiery sparks and, near the entrance, a man dead on the ground, his entrails spilling out. People around him were spattered with blood."
It was not immediately clear who was behind the explosion, which could be heard nearly a kilometer away.
Indonesia, a secular nation of 238 million, has been hit by a string of suicide bombings blamed on the al-Qaida-linked network Jemaah Islamiyah and its offshoots since 2002, when an attack on two Bali nightclubs killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists.
Subsequent attacks have been far less deadly, however, and the last occurred more than two years ago, thanks to a security crackdown that led to the arrests and convictions of hundreds of Islamic militants.
Bombings by solo "jihadis" have continued, however.
A Central Java police spokesman said only the suicide bomber died in yesterday's attack.
About 17 people were wounded, three of them critically, according to hospital official.
Witnesses said they believed the perpetrator was not a church member.
One member of the congregation said: "He walked about four meters behind me. I believe he was disguised as a churchgoer."
The attack in Solo town in Central Java Province came as services were ending.
A witness told local TV station MetroTV that she heard the blast just after she walked out of the Kepunton church.
"Everyone was screaming," she said. "I saw fiery sparks and, near the entrance, a man dead on the ground, his entrails spilling out. People around him were spattered with blood."
It was not immediately clear who was behind the explosion, which could be heard nearly a kilometer away.
Indonesia, a secular nation of 238 million, has been hit by a string of suicide bombings blamed on the al-Qaida-linked network Jemaah Islamiyah and its offshoots since 2002, when an attack on two Bali nightclubs killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists.
Subsequent attacks have been far less deadly, however, and the last occurred more than two years ago, thanks to a security crackdown that led to the arrests and convictions of hundreds of Islamic militants.
Bombings by solo "jihadis" have continued, however.
A Central Java police spokesman said only the suicide bomber died in yesterday's attack.
About 17 people were wounded, three of them critically, according to hospital official.
Witnesses said they believed the perpetrator was not a church member.
One member of the congregation said: "He walked about four meters behind me. I believe he was disguised as a churchgoer."
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