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Bomb explodes at Hindu temple on Indonesian island
POSO, Indonesia - A small bomb exploded Friday outside a Hindu temple on an Indonesian island that has been plagued by religious violence, seriously wounding a man who was guarding the compound, police said. The blast on the outskirts of Poso, a coastal town on Sulawesi island, was caused by a low-intensity bomb that was placed in the home of the temples guard, said Posos deputy police chief, Maj. Andreas Wayan. It detonated when the 40-year-old man, Nengah Sugiarta, opened the door, causing the roof and wooden walls to collapse, he said. Whoever did this wanted to create panic and spread terror here in Poso, Wayan said, adding that police found black powder, nails, shrapnel and a battery at the scene, indicating the bomb was homemade.Hundreds of onlookers gathered around the temple after the blast, which riddled Sugiartas legs and waist with shrapnel and wood. The Hindu man, who has been the temples guard for 15 years, was taken to a nearby hospital. Some 3,000 security personnel have been deployed to the region - where Muslim-Christian clashes in 2001-2002 left more than 1,000 dead - following a resurgence of violence several months ago. Most of the victims in the latest attacks, including market bombings and the beheadings of three school girls, have been Christian. Wayan said it was too early to say who was behind Fridays attack - the first to target Hindus in Poso, a city 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) northeast of Jakarta. Police questioned three residents who were near the temple at the time of the blast, he said, providing no other details. Though nearly 90 percent of Indonesias 210 million people are Muslim, Posos population has an almost equal number of Christians and also a small number of Hindus, most of whom arrived from the island of Bali in the last three decades. The government moved thousands of Hindus to Sulawesi and other islands after the 1963 eruption of the Agung volcano, one of the most powerful in the 20th century, devastated dozens of villages on the mountainside in eastern Bali. A local Hindu leader, I Wayan Sumariasa, condemned Fridays explosion and questioned the motive, saying his community had good relations with Muslims and Christians living nearby. I dont understand why our temple became the target , he said. We dont know who would have done this. Posted by: Steve 2006-03-10 |
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