ISIS-linked militants kill four Christians in Indonesia
ISIS-linked extremists killed four people in a remote Christian community on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, authorities said Saturday, with one victim beheaded and another burned to death.
The group of sword-and-gun wielding attackers ambushed Lembantongoa village in Central Sulawesi province Friday morning, killing several residents and torching half a dozen homes, including one used for regular prayers and services, police said.
No arrests had yet been made and the motive for the attack was not immediately clear.
But authorities pointed the finger at the Sulawesi-based East Indonesia Mujahideen (MIT), one of dozens of radical groups across the Southeast Asian archipelago that have pledged allegiance to ISIS.
Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation, has long wrestled with extremist militancy and terror attacks, while Central Sulawesi has seen intermittent violence between Christians and Muslims for decades.
“We reached the conclusion that they (the attackers) were from MIT after showing pictures of its members to relatives of the victims” who witnessed the ambush, said Sigi Regency police chief Yoga Priyahutama.
The makeshift church was empty at the time of the early morning attack by around eight militants, he added.
“People were just in their homes when it happened,” Priyahutama said.
Lembantongoa village head Rifai, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said one victim was beheaded and another was nearly decapitated.
One of the other all-male victims was stabbed while a fourth was burned to death in his home, he added.
“Some residents managed to escape, but the victims didn’t make it,” Rifai told AFP.