five people and raising tensions in a region where fighting especially Muslim violence against Christians have killed nearly 1,000 people three years ago, police officials said.
The bomb exploded at 9:15 a.m. local time (0115 GMT) as the bus waited in a crowded market in the town of Poso, in Central Sulawesi province, Police Maj. Rudi Trenggono told reporters. Bloomberg news agency quoted Abdi Darma, head of the town police as saying that the explosion damaged at least two vehicles parked near the minivan.
"The bomb exploded when the market is full of people shopping". Three people were killed instantly on the bus and two victims later died at the hospital, police said. Four others were reportedly injured.
Central Sulawesi has seen an increase in attacks and bomb blasts, mostly on Christians in the past year. On November 4, Carminalis Ndele, one of the leaders of Pinedapa village near Poso, was murdered by unknown assailants, The Voice Of the Martyrs Canada (VOM-Canada), a human rights watchdog, reported.
HEAD FOUND
"His head was found the next day, severed and thrown from a car" by still unknown assailants. "Inside the bag with his head was a note threatening to target the heads of one thousand Christians. Later that afternoon, his body was found two kilometers from his home," VOM-Canada said in a statement obtained by BosNewsLife.
Police have blamed at least some of the violence on the al-Qaida linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. The group – which also has been blamed for a string of terror attacks including the October 12, 2002, Bali bombing – wants to establish an Islamic state, and officials reportedly believe Jemaah Islamiyah was trying to re-ignite communal fighting in Poso.
Churches have been encouraged however by news that after more than two years in prison, Rev. Rinaldy Damanik was released from Palu Prison in Central Sulawesi on November 9. VOM-Canada said that "despite the danger he may face from militant groups," Damanik is determined to continue serving the Indonesian Church and was recently elected president of his denomination.
MAJOR BATTLEGROUND
Poso was a major battleground in fighting between Christians and Muslims three years ago, where up to 2,000 people were killed and 100,000 were displaced. Sporadic violence persists in Sulawesi, even after a government-brokered truce in December 2001 ended three years of ethnic conflict between feuding Christians and Muslims.
The province lies 1,000 miles, roughly 1,600 kilometers, north-east of the capital, Jakarta. Indonesia, a secular country, has the world’s largest Muslim population, with 85 percent of the nation’s 235 million people followers of Islam, according to estimates. These latest attacks against Christians came as Muslims around the world prepared to celebrate on Monday the Eid al-Fitr, end of the month long fasting period of Ramadan.
A series of explosions also rocked Thailand since Friday injuring more than 30 people and killing at least one man in the past two days, as sectarian violence continues in the region, the Voice of America (VOA) network reported. At least 27 people, the majority of them Buddhists, have been killed in apparent retaliation attacks since more than 80 Muslims died when security forces put down a demonstration two weeks ago, VOA said.
With author: Stefan J. Bos
