Last week Indonesia’s National police chief Sutarman said extremists may be planning terror attackson Christians at Christmas and New Year celebrations in Jakarta and other parts of the country.
“The terrorists have cells everywhere and they are active. We are continuing to pursue them,” Sutarman, told reporters in Jakarta.
Since 2000, when improvised bombs disguised as Christmas gifts delivered to churches and clergymen killed 19 people and injured scores more across Indonesia, police have gone on high alert at the festive season.
But officials rarely give such specific warnings like the one issued last week.
Indonesia’s small Christian minority has come under increasing pressure in recent years from Islamic extremists, who have forced the closure of churches and protested outside places of worship.
However the minority has not been targeted by a terror attack — a bombing or a shooting — since 2011 when a suicide bomber attacked a church in Solo, Central Java province.
Source
- SBS
- Image: News.com.au
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News category: Asia Pacific.
