Indonesia terrorist attack: suicide bombers targeting church injure 14

An explosion was detonated outside a church in the city of Makassar

Armed police officers stand guard along a closed road following an explosion outside a Catholic church in Makassar, South Sulawesi province, Indonesia. Antara Foto / Reuters

Police stand guard next to damaged vehicles after an explosion outside a church in Makassar. AFP

Police counter-terrorism squad members stand guard outside the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the aftermath of an explosion in Makassar. EPA

Police carry a bag with the remains of a suspected suicide bomber after an explosion outside a church in Makassar. AFP

Forensic police examine the site after a suspected bomb exploded near a church in Makassar. AFP

Police vehicles are parked near a Catholic cathedral where an explosion went off in Makassar. AP Photo

A policeman manages the traffic after an explosion outside a church in Makassar. AFP

Police officers stand guard near a church where an explosion went off in Makassar. AP Photo

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a Catholic church in the Indonesian city of Makassar on Sunday, wounding 14 on the first day of Easter Holy Week, police and a witness said.

Both of the attackers are thought to have died in the blast.

The congregation was inside the church at the time of the explosion, South Sulawesi police spokesman E Zulpan told Reuters. He said it was unclear whether body parts at the scene were only those of the attackers.

Father Wilhemus Tulak, a priest at the church, told Metro TV that one person had been wounded while holding a suspected suicide bomber back and that some of the victims had suffered serious injuries.

Motorbike attack 

“There were two people riding on a motorbike when the explosion happened at the main gate of the church – the perpetrators were trying to enter the church compound,” National Police spokesman Argo Yuwono said.

Video of the scene showed police had set up a cordon around the church and cars parked nearby were damaged.

Terrorism link

Boy Rafli Amar, the head of the country’s National Counterterrorism Agency, described the attack as an act of terrorism.

The Mayor of Makassar, Danny Pomanto, said the blast could have caused far more casualties if it had taken place at the church’s main gate instead of a side entrance.

Makassar, Sulawesi’s biggest city, reflects the religious makeup of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, which has a substantial Christian minority and followers of other religions.

“Whatever the motive is, this act isn’t justified by any religion because it harms not just one person but others, too,” Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, Indonesia’s religious affairs minister, said.

Gomar Gultom, head of the Indonesian Council of Churches, described the attack as a “cruel incident” as Christians were celebrating Palm Sunday, and urged people to remain calm and trust the authorities.

In January, a counter-terrorism unit raided a militant hideout in Makassar and killed two men suspected by police of involvement in twin bombings at a Philippine church in 2019 that killed more than 20 people.

Police blamed the ISIS-inspired Jamaah Ansharut Daulah group for suicide attacks in 2018 on churches and a police post in the city of Surabaya that killed more than 30 people.

Indonesia’s deadliest militant attack was carried out by Al Qaeda-linked militants and took place on the tourist island of Bali in 2002, when bombers killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists.

In subsequent years, security forces in Indonesia scored some major successes in tackling militancy.

But more recently there has been a resurgence of militant violence and scores of Indonesians have travelled to the Middle East to fight for ISIS.