Terrorists kill four Christian farmers in Indonesia
Barnabas Fund, 17 May 2021
Islamist terrorists from the East Indonesia Mujahideen have killed four Christian farmers in Central Sulawesi province where they were working in a coffee plantation on 11 May and were attacked by five men wielding swords.
According to a police spokesman for Central Sulawesi, the attack was reported by a fifth farmer who escaped. Farmers from the village had informed police that wounds to their necks were noticed on two of the victims. There were unconfirmed reports that one had been beheaded.
The farmers recognised one of the perpetrators as being a member of East Indonesia Mujahideen. University of Indonesia intelligence analyst Stanislaus Riyanta said that East Indonesia Mujahideen comprises ten members. The Mujahideen leader Ali Kalora, who has affirmed allegiance to Islamic State, is being hunted by police.
“They are increasingly pressed because they are hunted by the task force team, police and military personnel, so they killed the local people,” Riyanta explained.
The group is thought to have been set up in 2012. East Indonesia Mujahideen’s operations are confined largely to Central Sulawesi province.
Home to the world’s largest Muslim population, Indonesia has seen a rise in hard-line Islamic ideology in recent years.