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JAKARTA: An alleged suicide bomber exploded in front of a Catholic church in the Indonesian city of Makassar on Sunday, injuring some people on the first day of Holy Week, police and a witness said.
The congregation was inside the church on the island of Sulawesi at the time of the blast, South Sulawesi police spokesman E Zulpan told Reuters. He said it was unclear if the body parts at the scene were just the attacker’s.
Father Wilhemus Tulak, a priest of the church, told Indonesian media that the alleged attacker tried to enter the church compound on a motorcycle, but was stopped by a security guard. A total of 10 people have been injured, some of them seriously, he said.
Security camera footage showed an explosion that spewed flames, smoke and debris into the middle of the road.
Police did not say who could be responsible for the apparent attack and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Police blamed the Islamic State-inspired group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) for suicide attacks in 2018 against churches and a police post in the city of Surabaya that killed more than 30 people.
Makassar, the largest city in Sulawesi, reflects the religious makeup of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country with a substantial Christian minority and followers of other religions.
Gomar Gultom, director of the Indonesian Council of Churches, described the attack as a “cruel incident” while Christians were celebrating Palm Sunday and urged people to remain calm and trust the authorities.
Indonesia’s deadliest militant Islamist attack took place on the resort island of Bali in 2002, when bombers killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists.
In the following years, the Indonesian security forces had some significant successes in fighting militancy, but more recently there has been a resurgence of militant violence.
Makassar Mayor Danny Pomanto said Sunday’s blast could have caused many more casualties if it had taken place at the church’s front door rather than a side entrance.
