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Surabaya attacks: 11 killed in Indonesia church bombings




Suicide bombers have attacked three churches in Indonesia's second-largest city Surabaya, killing at least 11 people.

Around 40 others were injured in the attacks, which occurred within minutes of each other. No group has so far said it carried them out. 
 
TV pictures showed debris scattered around the entrance of one church.
Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country, has seen a resurgence of Islamist militancy in recent months.

More than 90% of Indonesians are Muslim, but there are also significant populations of Christians, Hindus and Buddhists.

The attack is the deadliest since 2005, when three suicide bombings on the resort island of Bali killed 20 people.


What happened?

The first explosion took place between services at the Santa Maria Catholic Church around 07:30 local time (00:30 GMT). Inspector General Machfud Arifin told CNN Indonesia that a motorbike was used in the attack.

According to Reuters, the second bombing targeted the cark park of a Pentecostal church. Images of the scene showed a number of burnt motorcycles.

Unconfirmed eyewitness reports say that the third attack was carried out by one or more veiled women who entered a church with children.

Officials reportedly foiled attacks against other churches.


Who's behind the attacks?

So far there has been no claim of responsibility for the attacks.

But Wawan Purwanto, of Indonesia's intelligence agency, said the Islamic State-inspired group, Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), was suspected to be behind them.

He added that the bombings were likely to be linked to an incident earlier this month, when five members of the security forces were killed during a 36-hour standoff with militant Islamist prisoners at a high security prison on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta. 

Separately, police said they had killed four suspected members of JAD in Cianjur, West Java.

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