Five injured as violence returns to Palu city

Five injured as violence returns to Palu city

Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu

Unknown assailants sprayed bullets at a Palu church and later
detonated a bomb in another church in the city on Sunday night,
injuring at least five people.

The incident, the second in the past five months, has served
as a wakeup call for police personnel nationwide ahead of
Christmas celebrations on Dec. 25.

The first incident, amid heavy rain, took place at 7:15 p.m.
at Anugerah Protestant church in Palu city, the capital of
Central Sulawesi province.

Witnesses said that the incident began when an unidentified
man, accompanied by three others riding two motorcycles, sprayed
bullets randomly at the church from the road. The bullets
shattered widows and hit two people sitting on the back pews of
the church. Hundreds of others, who were also attending the
Sunday service, quickly ran for cover, Arnold Nyawa, a Protestant
minister who was giving a sermon, was quoted as saying by Antara
news agency. The four attackers quickly fled following the
shooting.

The two victims -- Sri, 19 and Rada Krisna, 36 -- were rushed
to Undata Hospital and were treated for serious gunshot wounds.

The incident was followed 15 minutes later by a bomb explosion
at Immanuel Church, only half a kilometer south of Anugerah
Church. Witnesses said that they were attending a church service
when the bomb exploded in front of the church's entrance.

Binti Jaya, 60, a security guard in the church was seriously
injured, while two churchgoers Ani and Fina, traumatized by the
blast were also taken to the Salvation Army Hospital and treated
for shock.

Police personnel secured the churches after the incident.

Brig. Gen. Aryanto Sutadi, the chief of Central Sulawesi
Police, briefly visited the churches and said that the police
were tracking down the perpetrators.

The blast was caused by a low explosive bomb, Aryanto said
after a preliminary investigation.

The shooting came five months after a similar shooting that
left reverend Susianti Tinulele, 29, dead. Susianti was shot dead
by an unidentified man while delivering a sermon in Effata Church
in Palu in July this year. Four others were also injured in the
incident.

Palu is only a few hundred kilometers from the restive regency
of Poso, where major bloody conflict took place in 2000. The
sectarian conflict left some 2,000 Muslims and Christians dead
and dozens of others fled the area for safety. Government-
sponsored peace talks were held in 2002 to resolve the conflict,
but tension still grips Poso as intermittent attacks still occur
in the regency. On several occasions, attacks have also spread to
Palu, as evidenced in Sunday night's incident.

Separately in Surabaya, Surabaya Police chief Sr. Comr. Eddy
Kusuma Wijaya said as quoted by Antara on Sunday that 332
churches in the city would be tightly guarded by Surabaya Police
during Christmas services to prevent possible attacks.

The police have provided security at churches in the past few
years following simultaneous explosions in various churches
nationwide on Christmas Eve in 2000 when at least 15 were killed
and dozens of others injured.