Jakarta, Oct 27: Militants from the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah carried out recent bloody attacks on Christian villages in Indonesia to mark the one-year anniversary of the Bali bombings, a media report said today. Indonesian police, however, denied the report.
Muslim gunmen killed 11 Christians two weeks ago in attacks in central Sulawesi province, which was wracked from 1999 to 2001 with religious violence that attracted militants from around Indonesia.
Tempo weekly news magazine reported that Jemaah Islamiyah, the shadowy group blamed for last year's October 12 Bali bombings, were behind the shootings. The bombings killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.
"It was for the anniversary for the Bali bombs," an alleged senior member of the group told the magazine.
But police Brig Gen. Soenarko said the killings "had nothing to do with the issue of the one year anniversary of the Bali bombing or Jemaah Islamiyah."
Police have arrested 14 suspects in the Sulawesi attacks, and shot and killed six others they claimed were also involved. They have so far failed to reveal a motive for the attack.
Bureau Report