The Jakarta Post, 1/3/2006 5:13:41 PM
Palu bomb used mortar round, ball bearings: Police
JAKARTA (AFP): The bomb detonated at a market in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi
province on Dec. 31 morning that killed seven people was packed with the head of a
mortar round and ball bearings, police said Tuesday.
Traces of potassium chlorate, sulfur and aluminum were also found at the bomb site,
a market stall which sold pork in the religiously divided provincial capital of Palu,
National Police deputy spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bahrul Alam said.
"The container was made of metal pieces but we have not yet been able to identify the
trigger," he told a press briefing.
Witnesses had earlier said they thought the bomb contained nails.
The investigations led by a special team of detectives is still in progress, with police
still questioning a 37-year-old man who was detained the same day of the bombing,
Alam said.
"Meticulous work and time are needed for us to be able to solve the case," he said,
adding that police had until Saturday under Indonesia's anti-terror laws to either
charge the man or release him.
Local news reports said the man was seen in the market the night before the
Saturday morning bombing.At least 54 mostly Christian shoppers who had thronged
the stall to buy pork, which is forbidden for Muslims, were injured. A second
unexploded bomb was found near the scene.
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-populated nation but Christians and Muslims
live in roughly equal numbers in parts of Sulawesi and in the Malukus.
The blast was the latest violence to rock the restive province. In November, about
1,000 extra troops and police were sent to Central Sulawesi after violence between
the two religious groups escalated.
In one of the most shocking attacks, three Christian schoolgirls were beheaded by
masked assailants.
And on May 28 this year, twin bomb blasts tore through another busy market in the
Christian-dominated town of Tentena, killing 19 people and injuring at least 40.
Widespread religious violence rocked the area in 2000 and 2001, killing more than
1,000 people.
A government-brokered truce was put in place in December 2001 but intermittent
bombings, shootings and other attacks targeting Christians have continued. (***)
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
|
