On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Sunday, two Islamist terrorist suicides bombed a Catholic church in which both terrorists were killed and 20 people were injured, police said. The explosion occurred in Makassar, the capital of the province of South Sulavesi. Security guards stopped a motorcycle at the gate, with which two people wanted to enter the complex of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, when one of the two people detonated an explosive device on the motorcycle. The explosion occurred when people came out of the church after the Palm Sunday service. Indonesian police chief Listjo Sigits Prabovo said the attackers were male and female, and both were members of the Islamic extremist group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah. The group, which has also carried out attacks on Christian churches in Indonesia and the Philippines in the past, supports the Islamist terrorist organization Islamic State. The attack has been condemned by Indonesian President Joko Vidodo. “Terrorism is a crime against humanity,” he said. “I call on everyone to fight terrorism and radicalism, because they are contrary to the values of religion,” the president stressed. The majority of Indonesia’s population is Muslim, but about 10% are Christians.
–
