25 Sep 2011

Suicide bomber targets central Java church

10:03 pm on 25 September 2011

A Protestant church in Indonesia's central Java province has been hit by a suspected suicide attack.

Police say only the suspected bomber had died, but that a number of other people were injured in the blast in Solo.

Witnesses said the bomber struck as people were leaving the Bethel church after a Sunday service, AFP reports.

Indonesia has been rocked by a series of attacks staged by regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah in recent years, including the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people.

Solo is the home town of militant Islamist spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir, who has been jailed for 12 years for funding a terrorist group that was planning attacks against Westerners and political leaders.