Radical Islamic warriors are continuing their rain of terror on the Christians of Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. A VOM source has confirmed that 21 Christian villages in the Poso coastal area have been burned and destroyed and at least 7 people have been killed within the past week.
The events in Central Sulawesi are finally beginning to get the attention of major newspapers. An article in the New York Times December 1 said, “Thousands of Christian villagers on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi are fleeing attacks by armed Muslim paramilitary forces.” The article quoted a Roman Catholic priest, “Thousands have fled…What could they do? Their houses have been burned. The police came yesterday, but it was too late.”
ULAWESI ISLAND, INDONESIA (ANS) — Over 50,000 Christians are in grave jeopardy as they are surrounded by jihad terrorists in central Sulawesi Island, Indonesia.
Jihad terrorists have mounted a campaign on Christians in Central Sulawesi, according to reports from Indonesia. For the past three months, jihad militants have been pouring into the area.
The gifts and prayers of Christians worldwide made quite a difference for Indonesian Christians under attack by Laskar Jihad extremists, says Jeff Hammond, Australian missionary directing a relief effort among 54,000 displaced believers in Sulawesi and Halmahera islands.
Christians in the Indonesian province of Papua (Irian Jaya) are fearful that a violent campaign could be unleashed against them later this year as Laskar Jihad Islamic militants continue to flood into the province with the apparent collusion of the authorities.
In a shocking turn of events, the radical Laskar Jihad has been banned from the Moluccas and its combative leader placed under arrest.
Christians in the Maluku provincial capital of Ambon are appealing to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to send peacekeeping forces in the wake of recent terrorist attacks.
Sources of the The Voice of the Martyrs in Indonesia say members of the militant Islamic group Laskar Jihad are likely responsible for a bus bomb blast near Poso on Wednesday. VOM has learned more details about the attack that killed at least four people and injured 17 others.
Christian Aid’s contact in Indonesia said Sunday that Christians in some villages that have been taken over by Laskar Jihad militant Muslims are being offered the opportunity to leave their villages, but on one condition: They must relinquish all right to their homes, businesses and properties, and never return to their villages again.
Christian Aid’s contact in Indonesia has just returned from a visit to the Poso and Tentena area and shares the following update on the current situation.–John Lindner, Editor
The Miracle of Answered Prayer
Radical Islamic warriors are continuing their rain of terror on the Christians of Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. A VOM source has confirmed that 21 Christian villages in the Poso coastal area have been burned and destroyed and at least 7 people have been killed within the past week.
Over 50,000 Christians are in grave jeopardy as they are surrounded by jihad terrorists in central Sulawesi Island, Indonesia.
Jihad terrorists have mounted a campaign on Christians in Central Sulawesi, according to reports from Indonesia. For the past three months, jihad militants have been pouring into the area.
A smouldering civil unrest that has troubled the eastern Indonesian province of Irian Jaya for years threatens once again to harm Christians and others caught in the war between a growing independence movement and the Jakarta government.
Work is underway to resettle Indonesian Christians rescued from violence that continues in this country’s Molucca Islands, while thousands more remain to be rescued.
In a new twist to the violence against Christians in eastern Indonesia’s Maluku Islands, Muslim Jihad fighters dressed like Japanese “ninjas” have begun targeting individuals under cover of darkness.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (BP)–Twenty-three Christians were massacred in Indonesia as they fled from their village in late July and early August, The Hindustan Times of India has reported. The report from Indonesia was relayed to U.S. media via Crosswalk.com, an Internet news and information site.
MANADO, Indonesia (Compass) — “There are no Christians left in Ternate,” said George Saselah, who had left his farm there to join his wife and newborn daughter in a refugee camp in Manado, on Indonesia’s North Sulawesi island.
LONDON (Compass) — Maluku’s head of police admitted that authorities cannot dislodge the hundreds of Muslim jihad fighters scattered throughout eastern Indonesia’s Maluku province and who have escalated the inter-religious conflict as Christmas approaches. More than 100 Christians were reported killed in November fighting.