A suspected Islamic suicide bomber reportedly attacked a Catholic Cathedral, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, at the beginning of the Holy Week celebrations in Indonesia leaving at least 20 people wounded.
The International Christian Concern (ICC) reported that the Makassar Cathedral in Sulawesi island was attacked while the 10:28 am Palm Sunday Mass was ongoing. The suicide bomber blew up outside the church that left some of the at least 20 people wounded in critical condition.
According to ICC, footage captured from the nearby CCTV showed that the flame from the explosion caught four people in front of the church compound. Those who were critically injured were brought to the hospital that included a toddler and church members and guards. There were two persons killed in the violent incident; one of them is believed to be the suicide bomber.
There was a wounded man that said he saw the attackers come to the church and was trying to stop them since they wanted to go inside. One of those who died was the one the wounded man tried to hold off while riding a motorbike.
The ICC cited Archdiocese of Makassar Curia member Fr. Frans Nipa in confirming through a statement that Archbishop John Liku'Ada and members of his clergy living in the cathedral are doing well and that they have cancelled activities scheduled for the rest of Palm Sunday.
As per Reuters, South Sulawesi Police Spokesman E. Zulpan stressed that it was unclear if the body parts found at the scene belonged solely to the attacker and that no terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the attack. They are, however, eyeing the Islamic State-linked Jamaah Ansharut Daulah as culprit of the incident after the said group have a history of attacking Indonesian churches and that members of the said group have been arrested in the past week by Indonesian police.
Meanwhile CBN News reported that the blast went off while the first batch of Mass goers were going out of the church while another group was coming in. The security guards were actually suspicious of the two men on motorcycle that they hindered them from coming inside and confronted them causing one of the men to detonate his bomb.
CBN News said that body parts collected from the scene showed that one of the attackers was actually a woman. Of the wounded, four were the church guards. The Indonesian National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo told reporters, as per CBN News, that one of the attackers was believed to have links to a Philippine church bombing--the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Sulu, Philippines and has been identified as "L". The two attackers were supposed to have been arrested earlier for their involvement in the Philippine bombing.
In line with the attack, CBN News added that four suspected militants were arrested since they have links to the attackers traced through a recent raid in Indonesia's Bima City.
"We are still searching other members of the group and I have ordered the Densus 88 to pursue their movement," Prabowo told CBN News in an interview. CBN News explained that Prabowo was referring to Indonesia's elite police counter-terrorism squad.
On the other hand, ICC cited the Indonesian Communion of Churches to have condemned the attack and have called on the public "not to be afraid and anxious but to remain vigilant" and to pray for society's peace.
"This ill-fated incident adds to the long list of acts of violence and terror that have occurred in the archipelago," Indonesian Communion of Churches Chairman Gomar Gultom told ICC in an interview.
The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, on his Palm Sunday Mass mentioned the terrorist attack on Indonesia and asked everyone to pray for its victims.
