Suspected terrorists kill 4 Christians, burn church members’ homes after attack on Salvation Army’s service post.
Suspected terrorists kill 4 Christians, burn church members’ homes after attack on Salvation Army’s servicBy Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor FOLLOW| Saturday, November 28, 2020
Members of the clergy conduct Easter mass in an empty church and streamed online as part of social distancing measures amidst the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in Jakarta on April 12, 2020. | ADEK BERRY/AFP via Getty ImagesPolice in the Muslim-majority archipelago of Indonesia were searching for suspected terrorists Saturday after the throats of three Christians were slit, another was beheaded and a Salvation Army post and Christians' homes were burned down on the island of Sulawesi, according to reports.
About 10 people from a "terrorist" group carried out the killing on Friday morning in a hilly, remote village near the region of Sigi in Central Sulawesi province, Reuters reported, based on what national police spokesman Awi Setiyono said in a television interview.
The suspected terrorists also set fire to a church and burned down the homes of six churchgoers after they attacked the Lewonu Lembantongoa Service Post of the Salvation Army, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reported.
ICC said they saw a video showing a charred victim being pulled from a pile of ruins, with smoke still rising in the background. “The fowler position of the body suggests the agony and pain endured by the victim before death.”
“ICC mourns the death of the Indonesian brothers and sisters who were brutally murdered by the alleged terrorist,” Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, said. “We urge the Indonesian government to take necessary measures to hold him accountable and put him to justice. Such senseless act cannot be tolerated in the country that boasts ‘Pancasila,’ the state ideology which promotes religious harmony and tolerance.”
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The Salvation Army International confirmed the attack on Saturday, saying that their building along with six homes of members were burned.
"WITH great sadness, The Salvation Army confirms that an attack upon the Lewono Lembantongoa Outpost, Indonesia, on Friday 27 November 2020 has claimed the lives of four members."
