Suicide bombers who yesterday carried out deadly attacks on three churches in Indonesia’s second-largest city were a family of six that included two young children, police said, as the world’s most populous Muslim nation recoiled in horror at one of the worst attacks on its Christian minority.
At least 13 people, including all six family members, died in the attacks in Surabaya and at least 41 people were injured, police said, in acts that Indonesia’s president celled “barbaric.”
The bombings were the worst to target churches in Indonesia since a series of attacks on Christmas Eve in 2000 killed 15 people and wounded nearly 100 others.
Photo: EPA
Religious minorities in Indonesia, especially Christians, have been repeatedly targeted by militants.
The father exploded a car bomb, two sons, aged 16 and 18, used a motorcycle for their attack, and the mother was with daughters, aged nine and 12, for her attack, national police chief Tito Karnavian said.
The family had returned to Indonesia from Syria, where until recently the Islamic State (IS) group controlled significant territory, Karnavian said.
The extremist group claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement carried by its Aamaq news agency.
The first attack struck the Santa Maria Roman Catholic Church in Surabaya, police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera told reporters at the scene.
That 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.
A witness described the woman’s attack at the Diponegoro church, saying she was carrying two bags when she arrived.
“At first officers blocked them in front of the churchyard, but the woman ignored them and forced her way inside. Suddenly she hugged a civilian then [the bomb] exploded,” said the witness, a security guard who identified himself as Antonius.
Mangera said three unexploded homemade bombs, two at the Pantekosta church and one at the Diponegoro church, were detonated by a bomb squad.
Shattered glass and chunks of concrete littered the entrance of the Santa Maria Church, which was sealed off by police.
Rescue personnel treated victims at a nearby field, while officers inspected wrecked motorcycles in the parking lot that had been burned in the explosion.
A street merchant outside the church said she was blown several meters by the blast.
“I saw two men riding a motorbike force their way into the churchyard. One was wearing black pants and one with a backpack,” said the merchant, Samsia, who uses a single name. “Soon after that the explosion happened.”
Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited the scenes of the attacks and described them as “cowardly actions” that were “very barbaric and beyond the limit of humanity.”
In Jakarta, the Indonesian Church Association condemned the attacks.
“We are angry,” association official Gormar Gultom said, but urged people to let the police investigation take its course.
Indonesia’s two largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, also condemned the attacks.
TSAI REACHES OUT
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday offered her sympathies to people affected by the bombings and by a deadly knife attack in central Paris a day earlier.
“My thoughts are with all those affected by the attacks in France and Indonesia today. Taiwan stands with all peace-loving people around the world,” Tsai tweeted.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) earlier said that no Taiwanese had been harmed in the attacks.
Winston Chen (陳文儀), director-general of the Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, has conveyed Taiwan’s sympathy and condolences to Indonesian Representative to Taiwan Robert James Bintaryo, Lee said, adding that Taiwan’s representative office in France has set up an emergency response mechanism.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) extended the nation’s condolences to the victims and their families to French Representative to Taiwan Benoit Guidee, he added.
Lee reminded Taiwanese to pay attention to their personal safety when traveling to the two nations and to contact Taiwan’s representative offices there in case of an emergency.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS