Indonesian Police Suspect Link Between Church, Mosque Bombings

Posted September 26th, 2011 at 5:00 am (UTC-5)
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Indonesian authorities suspect a suicide bomber who attacked a church on Sunday may have been involved in a previous bombing at a mosque in April.

Police Monday were awaiting the results of DNA testing on the remains of the bomber, who injured 27 people, many critically, at a church in Central Java province. But they say he may be Achmed Yosepa Hayat, who is wanted for his role in a suicide attack that wounded 30 people at a mosque in Cirebon.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced the suspicions during an address to the nation late Sunday.

He strongly condemned the attack and said Indonesia still is threatened by extremism.

Sunday's attack took place in Solo, the hometown of radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir who is considered the spiritual leader behind the regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah. It came as hundreds of worshippers were leaving a Protestant church at the end of Sunday services.

The April attack struck at a mosque attached to a police station in Cirebon, about 300 kilometers east of Jakarta. Two main suspects in that bombing were killed by police near Solo in May.