Following the November 27 terrorist attack
on the Salvation Army’s service post in central Sulawesi, International
Christian Concern (ICC) continued to follow up with its local contacts
on the development of this case. The gruesome details of the attack were
revealed to ICC as more information was made available.
According to survivors of the attack, on Friday around 7:30 a.m., Nei
was having breakfast with her husband, Yasa, and saw approximately 10
unknown people visiting Naka, who was at a nearby house in
Tokelemo, Lembantongoa Village.
Soon, suspects Ali Kalora and
Jaka Ramadan from the Eastern Indonesia Mujahideen (MIT) terrorist group
were seen entering the house and calling Yasa out, with his wife Nei by
his side. Yasa was then tied by one of the suspects and decapitated
with a machete and stabbed in the back. One of the MIT members was seen
near Yasa’s house, giving a signal to the other witnesses to flee, which
allowed several witnesses and children to escape.
Naka and
his son Pedi, along with their house, were set on fire, while a fellow
church member named Pinu was stabbed to death. The terrorists also
torched a total of eight houses, including the building that the
Salvation Army service post used as its house of worship.
Yasa’s son, Ulin, survived the attack and reported it to the police. The
head of Lembantongoa village, Deki Basalulu, told Benar News that
approximately 750 people fled their homes after the attack and took
shelter at a safe location roughly 5.5 miles away.
Police
suspect that Poso-based MIT militants, who pledge allegiance to ISIS,
carried out the violence on Friday since the leader of the outlawed
group, Ali Kalora, was seen at the scene of the crime. According to Yoga
Priyautama, the chief of police in Sigi, a joint team has spread out
and conducted searches in a number of areas which are suspected to be
the perpetrators’ escape routes.
The victims were part of the
communities that were impacted by the flash flood last October. Forty
families were relocated, but only 12 families lived in the village which
later became the crime scene, where the nearby forests provide hideouts
for the suspects.
Contrary to the authorities’ claim that the attack was not religiously motivated and “merely an effort by the MIT to fulfill their goals and show their existence,” MIT
militants interacted with the community quite often, according to local
Christians. The terrorists often asked for food from the church and the
church fed them. Allegedly, the terrorists suspected that the community
had reported their presence to the police and therefore retaliated.
The Salvation Army in Indonesia sent out a press release on
November 28 to condemn the sadistic act and call for the government to
arrest the perpetrators, take appropriate action, and investigate to
eradicate these criminal networks. A funeral was held in remembrance of
the victims on November 29.
Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, said, “While
ICC appreciates the authorities for their swift actions to hunt down
the perpetrators through the joint operation, it is disappointing to
hear the official rhetoric that this attack was not motivated by
religion and no church was burned down. Minority Christians in Indonesia
have long suffered from discrimination and persecution and the
Indonesian government should not cover the truth in the name of
maintaining religious harmony.”
International Christian Concern is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) charitable organization focused on human rights, religious freedom and assisting the persecuted Christian Church around the world.
Media Contact
Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator
E-mail: press@persecution.org
Phone: (301)-859-3842
International Christian Concern
2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW #941, Washington, D.C. 20006
www.persecution.org | E-mail: icc@persecution.org
