IS-affiliated suicide bombers attack Mass congregations in three churches, killing at least 11
Police and soldiers examine a site after attacks outside the Surabaya Centre Pentecostal Church. Pic/AFP
Suicide bombers on motorcycles, including a woman with children, on Sunday targeted Mass congregations in three churches in Indonesia's second largest city, killing at least 11 people and wounding dozens in one of the worst attacks on the Christian minority, police said.
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The first attack struck the Santa Maria Roman Catholic Church in Surabaya, killing four people, including one or more bombers, said police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera. He said two police officers were among a total of 41 wounded. The 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. National police spokesman Setyo Wasisto announced that police fatally shot four suspected militants and arrested two others early Sunday in West Java towns. It wasn't clear if the shootings were connected with the church attacks.
"They have trained in order to attack police," Wasisto said, identifying the militants as members of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, or JAD. The network of about two dozen extremist groups has been implicated in a number of attacks in Indonesia over the past year. It pledges allegiance to Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
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