At least 9 killed in 3 church explosions in Indonesia
(CNN)Suspected suicide bombers struck three different churches in Indonesia on Sunday morning, killing at least nine people and injuring scores more, police say.
Forty people -- including two police officers -- were taken to hospital with injuries following the attacks in Surabaya, a port city on the east coast of Java Island, East Java Police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said.
Police officers near the scene of hte blast at Santa Maria church in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia.
The explosions targeted the Santa Maria Catholic Church, the Indonesian Christian Church and the Pentecost Central Church. The St. Maria explosion killed four people and two people were killed at each of the other two churches, the spokesman said. Another person later died at a hospital.
St. Maria was the site of the first blast, which occurred at 7.30 a.m. local time Sunday (8.30 p.m. Saturday ET), before blasts at 7.35 a.m. and 8 a.m., state-run news agency Antara quoted him as saying.
"Right now there are only three locations. Do not believe in misleading information that (the bomb) exploded in five locations or any others," the police spokesman added.
"We suspect it is a suicide bomb attempt. We have identified one victim," he said.
Surabaya
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The police spokesman declined to give more details on the victims.
Police have closed off all three locations as they work to identify the victims.
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi tweeted her condolences to the bombing victims with the hashtags #UnitedAgainstTerrorism and #WeAreNotAfraid.
Police have not identified the attackers.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country. In recent years it has been fighting against radical extremism as ISIS attempts to recruit members within the country.
CNN's Kathy Quiano and journalist Masrur Jamaluddin reported from Jakarta, Ralph Ellis wrote from Atlanta and Susannah Cullinane wrote from Auckland, New Zealand.
News Courtesy: www.cnn.com
