Eklesia Church, Poso

A bomb exploded in the Eklesia church in Poso, central Sulawesi.

The bomb, thought to be a homemade device, exploded on Saturday night at the Eklesia church, on Jl. Pulau Seram in Gebang Rejo village, in the Central Sulawesi regency of Poso, but no casualties were reported.

The explosion was heard about three km's away, but caused no major physical damage to the building. The church was still under renovation …

Basri

… a number of robberies, the beheading of three Christian schoolgirls in 2005, the bombing of the Eklesia church three times in 2006, the murder of Rev. Irianto Kongkoli in 2006, as well as the shooting of Poso police chief Rudy Sufahriadi in 2006. Sufahriadi, a Muslim, was regarded as being insufficiently ardent in his application of the strictures of Islam in his life:

I was instructed to shoot him as he was a thagut (a person who does not implement God's law).

Basri, who was …

Shootouts in Poso

… Violence, 1st October 2006.

In the early hours of October 24th the long-suffering Protestant Eklesia church on Pulau Seram street in Gebang Rejo district, was set on fire by a mob, who arrived in a convoy of about twenty motorcyles, firing weapons into the air as they rode, and used molotov cocktails and possibly a bomb to set the church alight. The rear of the church was burnt out, no one was hurt. ( Antara and Tempo and Detik .)

And as Tomaculum points out below a Muslim …

Poso Violence

… 30th, between 01.15-02.45, three homemade bombs exploded, the first at the front gate of the Eklesia church on Pulau Seram street in Gebangrejo, Poso, with the second and third bombs going off at Tambotoki street, Sayo, Poso, in front of a traditional fish market or about 50 metres from Poso's bus station. No-one was hurt but the explosions caused panic. ( Antara and Kompas )

Then later that night, at around 22.00, two more bombs went off, one in front of the Maranatha church …

Tentena Marketplace Bombing

… Pindad, 18 homemade bombs, 133 detonators and 74 arrows.

Commenting on the bomb blast at the Eklesia Church in Poso on a few days ago Purwoko said police had identified the perpetrators. He said the explosion, which did not cause any casualties, was linked to groups opposing the renovation of the church, which was badly damaged during the conflict in 2001.

December 4th 2007. Amril Ngiode alias Aat was sentenced to 15 years in a Jakarta court for his role in transporting two …

Poso & Palu News

Poso political problems.

When the town of Poso in central Sulawesi erupted into inter-communal violence in 1998 the precursor to the fighting, which dragged on for four years intermittently and caused about 2000 deaths, were local government disputes and rivalries, specifically over whether a Christian or a Muslim would be regent of the area, which then broke out into open conflict. …