20 Injured After ISIS Suicide Bombers Target Palm Sunday Church Service In Indonesia

Photo: Police and rescue workers outside a church where an explosion went off in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sunday, March 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Masyudi S. Firmansyah)

20 people have been injured after two suicide bombers attacked a Roman Catholic church Palm Sunday service on Indonesia's Sulawesi island.

The service had just finished at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in Makassar when two loud explosions were heard. It is believed the two suicide bombers were on motor-cycles but had been halted by security officials. Security has been tight across the whole of Indonesia due to a series of similar incidents occurring in the past.

The two suicide bombers have been revealed to be a man and woman, who were newlyweds and who had pledged allegiance to ISIS, the so-called 'Islamic State'. They are thought to be linked to an Indonesian Islamic extremist group known as Jemaah Anshorut Daulah. The same group bombed churches in Indonesia in 2018, resulting in the deaths of a number of worshippers.

The leader of the group was recently killed, and it is thought that this is causing other members who are on the run to carry out such attacks before they end up behind bars or executed.

National Police Chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo told reporters that other members of the group remain at large and that they are being hunted down by special forces units. He said:

"We are still searching other members of the group and I have ordered the Densus 88 to pursue their movement."

Indonesian President Joko Widodo condemned the attack and said that people should remain calm. In a televised address, he stated:

"I call on people to remain calm while worshipping because the state guarantees you can worship without fear."

Authorities have also said that one of the attackers is believed to have links to an attack on a church in the Philippines. The attack on the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in the Philippine province of Sulu killed 23 worshippers and injured scores of others in 2019.

The Pope was one of the first to give his condolences to those that had been wounded in the attack.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim majority nation on Earth but has a large number of religious minorities within the country, including Christians and Buddhists. There have been Islamic extremist attacks dating back for some time, the most notable of which was the 2002 bombing of a nightclub in Bali, packed with foreign tourists. The blast killed 202 people and wounded hundreds of others. The perpetrators were later found and hanged.

[h/t: CBN News]