CNN, Friday, December 30, 2005; Posted: 9:20 p.m. EST (02:20 GMT)
6 dead in Indonesian market blast
PALU, Indonesia (AP) -- A bomb ripped through a crowded pig market in an
Indonesian province that has been plagued by sectarian violence, killing six people
and wounding 45 others, witnesses and police said. Many of the victims were believed
to be Christians.
"It was a bomb," Brig. Oegroseno, the police chief of Central Sulawesi, said of the
Saturday morning attack in the provincial capital of Palu.
Police said it was too early to say whether the blast was linked to the simmering
sectarian conflict in the Indonesian province, where open battles between Muslims
and Christians killed about 1,000 people in 2001 and 2002.
The explosion tore through the market in a predominantly Christian part of Palu at
around 7 a.m., when it was packed with people preparing for Saturday night's New
Year celebration.
"The explosion was so loud, I couldn't hear for a couple of seconds," said Tega, a
resident who lived nearby. Like many Indonesians he only uses one name. "I ran out
of my house and saw bodies lying around."
A series of attacks have taken place in Central Sulawesi this year.
In October, unidentified assailants beheaded three Christian high school girls in Poso,
east of Palu. In May, two bombs in the Christian-dominated town of Tentena killed 20
people.
Police have questioned several suspects in those attacks, but have not formally
brought charges against anyone.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
