Medan rocked by two bomb blasts, no casualties

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Two bombs exploded separately in an area near Jl. Bahagia in Medan Tenggara district in the early hours of Sunday morning.

There were no casualties but one person was slightly injured. Several buildings, however, were damaged from the incident.

The first blast took place at about 2:45 a.m. in front of a kiosk belonging to Poltak Panjaitan.

"The loud blast shocked people and we were afraid to go outside," a witness said.

Minutes later, about 7 meters from the site of the first blast, a second bomb exploded in front of the residence of Rev. J. Sitorus, a member of the clergy at Gereja Methodist Indonesia (Indonesian Methodist Church).

The blast created a 20-centimeter crater on the ground and damaged the house's fence.

The reverend's son, Erickson Sitorus, suffered hearing damage from the thunderous explosion.

"My right ear really hurts and I cannot hear a thing. My head keeps on pounding," Erickson told journalists later in the day.

The latest incident comes exactly one week after two similar bombs went off near a small Protestant church here on Aug. 20 just before Sunday morning mass.

The first explosion last week occurred in front of the Kemenangan Iman Indonesia (Indonesia's Victory of Faith) Church on Jl. Bunga Kenanga on the outskirts of Padang Bulan.

After the explosion residents immediately combed the area and found a second device nearby wrapped in plastic. It went off after they threw it in a swamp.

Police confirmed that last week's two explosions were bombs, but declined to link it to a series of bomb blasts that hit the capital of North Sumatra in May.

Similar

Medan Police chief Sr. Supt. Hasyim Irianto, however, said a preliminary investigation showed that the two bombs on Sunday were made from similar substances with those which exploded in Padang Bulan.

"They were homemade bombs, and it seems that they used the same materials, such as sulphur, that were found in the bombs which exploded in a Protestant church last Sunday," Hasyim told The Jakarta Post by telephone later in the day.

Hasyim, however, said police had no clues as to who was behind the bombing.

"This was certainly done by parties who want to stir chaos in Medan," he said.

"The city has recently been rocked by brawls, strikes and bombings, but so far people have been able to unite and not be easily provoked by these incidents. So let's fight these acts of terror," he asserted.

Police patrols have increased around places of worship, mostly churches, to avoid further incidents.

Security overall in the city has been tightened.

"In the last incident, the culprits placed the bombs in a housing complex. So we just have to work harder on this case," he said, adding that police were still investigating whether there was any connection between the last four explosions and the May bombings.

On May 28, a bomb exploded during a service at the Indonesian Protestant Church in downtown Medan, injuring 47 members of the congregation.

Two other bombs were also planted at two different churches but they did not explode. One day later, an explosion destroyed a restaurant on Jl. Pemuda, injuring three pedestrians.

Many fear the incidents could lead to greater communal- religious unrest, similar to that in Maluku and North Maluku.

In another related development, police seized dozens of sharp weapons, molotov cocktails and an air rifle from warring youth camps of Jl. Mandailing and Jl. Aksara, Hasyim said.

"The two groups were involved in brawls about a week ago, which caused injuries to at least 10 people. We also seized other weapons from a gang of hoodlums in a series of raids over the past four days," he added. (39/edt)