Thursday, April 21, 2011

Five Bombs Found Near Indonesian Church; Militants Planned to Detonate Them Good Friday

The Associated Press website reports that terror suspects arrested today (April 21, 2011) led police to five massive bombs buried beneath a gas pipeline near a church just outside of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta.

Djoko Suyanto, a security minister, said he believed the Islamic militants had been plotting an attack ahead of Easter celebrations. The U.S. embassy urged Americans to be vigilant.

The explosives -- safely defused at the scene -- had been set to detonate by cell phone at around 9 a.m. Friday.

"The army and police are under high alert," Suyanto told reporters, adding that troops would be deployed at churches and other strategic locations. "We want to guarantee safety," he said.

In recent months, small bands of militants in Indonesia -- the world's most populous Muslim nation -- have been trying to turn the secular nation of 237 million into an Islamic state. This effort by Muslim extremists has resulted in the destruction of several Christian churches in Indonesia.

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