Church Bombings In Indonesia's Surabaya Leave 10 Dead

-


Suicide bombers have attacked three churches in Indonesia's second-largest city Surabaya, killing at least 10 people.

Around 40 others were injured in the attacks, which occurred within minutes of each other. No group has so far said it carried them out.

TV pictures showed debris scattered around the entrance of one church.

Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country, has seen a resurgence of Islamist militancy in recent months.

The bombings took place around 07:30 local time (00:30 GMT). Officials reportedly foiled attacks against other churches.

Wawan Purwanto, of Indonesia's intelligence agency, said the Islamic State-inspired group, Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), was suspected to be behind the attacks.

He added that the bombings were likely to be linked to an incident earlier this month, when five members of the security forces were killed during a 36-hour standoff with militant Islamist prisoners at a high security prison on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta.

Separately, police said they had killed four suspected members of JAD in Cianjur, West Java, to the south of Jakarta.



More than 90% of Indonesians are Muslim, but there are also significant populations of Christians, Hindus and Buddhists.

Christian leaders urged calm. "We don't need to be afraid when facing terror threats. We must leave it completely to the government to handle," the head of the Indonesian Communion of Churches said in a statement on Sunday quoted by The Jakarta Post.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi condemned the attack and sent her condolences to the victims and their families.


What is the history of militancy in Indonesia?

Following the country's worst-ever attack in 2002, when bombings on the popular resort island of Bali killed 202 people, authorities launched a crack-down on extremist groups.

But recent years have seen a number of attacks claimed by Islamic State (IS).

Four civilians and four attackers were killed in a series of explosions and shootings in central Jakarta in January 2016; the first attack claimed by the group.

In February this year, a number of people were injured in a sword attack at a church in Sleman, Yogyakarta. Police said that the attacker had previously tried to join IS in Syria.

map

BBC

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Imiegba And Children Of Pa Akubo Esuka Celebrate His Enthronement As Ódegbé

-
Image
  By Suleiman Ugbokhe Pa Akubo Yakubu Esuka, the Ódegbé of Imiegba Imiegba Community, Three Ivie Clan in Etsako East local government area was in a celebration mode on Sunday, December 27, 2020, when the indigenes both home and abroad joined the children of Pa Akubo Yakubu Esuka to celebrate his enthronement as the Ódegbé of Imiegba. Pa. Akubo Yakubu Esuka was born to the family of Mr. Esuka and Madam Ogenikho about 104 years ago in Imiegba. In his quest for a better life, he left his birth place, Imiegba, in 1944, with his maternal uncle, Pa Etsekhumhe Ogweli for Minna where he did manial jobs for some time before he left for Kaduna with a single mission: To join the army. But it turned out to be mission impossible as Pa Akubo was not accepted into the army "for reasons I don't know," he says. "I then proceeded to Kano from Kaduna with the hope of securing a job. I was still not able to get a job." As the saying goes, 'no place like home,' Pa Akubo had
Read more

Hon. Benedicta Ebuehi Felicitates With Gov Obaseki On Fifth Anniversary

-
Image
  By Suleiman Ugbokhe His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki, Executive Governor, Edo State The immediate past Executive Chairman of Etsako East local government area, Hon. (Princess) Benedicta Ebuehi has congratulated His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki on the occasion of his fifth anniversary as the Executive Governor of Edo state. In a statement personally signed by her and made available to newsmen, Hon. Ebuehi stated that ”It is heartwarming that your coming into office as Executive Governor of Edo state five years ago has transformed the state into a viable tier of government whose policies and programmes have continued to attract admiration and consultancy from your counterparts in other states of the federation." The erstwhile council boss noted that even in the choice of personnel to help drive the policies and programmes of the administration of the 'Heartbeat of the Nation,' Governor Godwin Obaseki has been meticulous, which has resulted in a peaceful, harmonious and seam
Read more

One Year After ... Hon. Princess Benedicta Ebuehi Remains The Toast Of Etsako East People

-
Image
By Suleiman Ugbokhe Hon. Princess Benedicta Ebuehi, Former Executive Chairman, Etsako East Local Government Area It is one year now since Hon. Princess Benedicta Ebuehi left office as the Executive Chairman of Etsako East local government area, a position she stepped into when the then helmsman, Aremiyau Momoh (Mbakwe), under whom she was the vice chairman, was removed from office by the state government two years into the three-year tenure. On assuming office as Executive Chairman, Princess Benedicta left no one in doubt that she was coming into office to serve the people of Etsako East local government area, and not to canonise, imperialise herself as was the case before her. One of the first things she did to demonstrate her people-oriented policy was the purchase and installation of a transformer at Awuyemi (Ward 5), to end years of darkness in that part of Okpella. It is very easy to gloss over this achievement but when the socioeconomic ripple effects of restoring power supply t
Read more