A husband, wife and their four children have sown death in three churches in the city. The mother and her two daughters, aged nine and 12, carried out the suicide mission at the Christian Church of Indonesia (Gki). Another family blew itself up preparing bombs; another committed suicide at a police station. Abp. Suharyo: "The real objective of terrorists is to strike unified and pluralist Indonesia". Amazement and indignation among the family members of the mastermind of the attacks.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) - "Planning and implementing a suicide attack by taking their children with them is a new" form "of violence. It is a family tragedy”, decries Msgr. Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, Archbishop of Jakarta and President of the Indonesian Bishops' Conference (Kwi).
He was commenting on the dynamics of the attacks that have hit three churches in Surabaya, capital of the province of East Java two days ago. Meanwhile, following the death of Nathanael, an eight-year-old Catholic child, the number of victims of the coordinated attack has risen to 12.
The terrorists belonged to a single terrorist family. The father, Dita Oeprianto, is the Pentecostal Church bomber (Gpps), while the two teenage sons carried out the attack on the Catholic church of Saint Mary Immaculate (Smtb), aboard a motorcycle. The mother and her two small daughters, aged nine and 12, carried out the suicide attack at the Christian Church of Indonesia (Gki).
"I am convinced - says Msgr. Suharyo - that the two young daughters had no idea what would happen. This is incomprehensible and I think this kind of thing should never happen again, clouding our humanity ". The prelate declares that the Surabaya attacks "are not a religious problem, but mainly concern the existence of the unified Republic of Indonesia (Nkri)".
Not only Christians, but also security forces agents have been targeted by terrorists. "It has always been the police who destroyed their plans and discovered their plots. For this reason, the agents are in their sights, "reiterates the Archbishop of Jakarta.
The authors of the coordinated attacks aimed to destroy the philosophical and political platform of the state, the Pancasila. "Indonesia rests on the value of pluralism and all the founding fathers agreed that the base of the state is the common ground of thought and commitment; the pluralist nations consist of a variety of ethnic groups, religious confessions and social groups ", concludes the archbishop.
The attacks of two days ago also shook the moderate Islamic community. Dentri, younger sister of Dita Oeprianto, was shocked to learn that her brother was the main actor in those deadly attacks. The parents, Dodik and Sumijati, feel humiliated because their family is now in the limelight. Dentri declares that she has no idea of the motive behind Dita's actions and maintains that the whole family had not seen their brother for some time, despite their homes being in Surabaya.
A few hours after the attacks on the Christian community, three members of another family were killed in an accidental explosion in an apartment in Sidoarjo, near Surabaya. The authorities say they were making bombs for another attack. Even the authors of the explosions yesterday morning at Surabaya police headquarters belong to a single family unit. The Indonesian police chief, Tito Karnavian, confirmed that the three families were part of the same terrorist network and knew each other.