Poso (AsiaNews) – Terror struck Christians in Poso in the Indonesian province of central Sulawesi on Saturday, 1 July, when a bomb hit the protestant Pentecost church of Eklesia. The loud explosion that took place in the late evening did not kill or injure anyone, but it kept residents awake around Pulau Seram street, the location of the religious building.

Yesterday, Paul Purkowo, commander of the special task force for central Sulawesi, said the bomb was homemade and did not contain any metal materials. "It is an empty bomb that only caused a loud blast."

M.Kilat, spokesman for the provincial police, said the attack was the handiwork of extremists aimed at destroying the relative peace reigning in Poso, where "nothing special" had happened in the past two months. The spokesman urged residents not to respond to the provocation.

Everything appeared to be as usual in the city yesterday: traffic and public transport services were regular. All the Christian communities went to mass. Maritje, a citizen of Poso, said: "People appear to be ignoring what happened on Saturday night and right now, Christians and Muslims (who were fighting each other at one time) are co-existing peacefully."

"Ties between Christians and Muslims are improving and no one is interested any longer in reviving old tensions," said a fruit and vegetable vendor at a market in Poso. Only yesterday, the governor of central Sulawesi inaugurated a monument to peace in Poso.

Last week, another episode raised fears of possible attempts to destroy inter-religious harmony in Poso. Bakrie, 37 years, found a large supply of ammunition in a motorcycle shop where he had gone to repair a fault in the electricity system.

In 2000 and 2001, inter-religious conflict in Poso led to around 1000 deaths. In 2001, Muslim and Christian leaders signed a peace accord. Violence has scaled down but not died out, as largely unpunished murders are still perpetrated intermittently.