UPDATE: The police have confirmed that 14 people were wounded in the Palm Sunday Church attack in Indonesia's Makassar. The authorities also said two suspected suicide bombers were behind the explosion on the morning of the Palm Sunday.
UPDATE: Nine people were injured in the blast, police have confirmed. The wounded include five church workers and four worshippers, DW reports, citing South Sulawesi police.
ORIGINAL STORY: A suicide blast outside a Christian church in Indonesia has wounded several people. The suicide bomber targeted a Catholic church in the Indonesian city of Makassar.
The bombing happened on Palm Sunday morning, when Christians around the world start the Easter holy week.
The churchgoers were assembled in the church when the explosion happened, South Sulawesi police said, according to the Channel News Asia.
There are witness reports that body parts were seen outside the church. The police could not confirm if those belonged to the faithful or the attacker.
The Indonesian police haven't revealed if a terror outfit carried out the attack. There have been no claims of responsibility so far. Indonesia had said the Islamic State-inspired Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) group was behind the suicide attacks on churches in 2018. The terror outfit had targeted churches and a police post in Surabaya in that attack. More than 30 people were killed in that attack.
The Reuters news agency also confirmed that the explosion was a suicide bombing.
"What we know so far is that there was a lone perpetrator," South Sulawesi Police Chief Insp. Gen. Merdisyam said, according to the Jakarat Globe.
"A number of churchgoers, maybe three or four of them, were sent to hospital," the officer added.
The church official said the suspected bomber had attempted to enter the church compound on a motorbike. However, the security guards stopped him at the gates, apparently forcing the bomber to set off the explosive device.
Father Wilhemus Tulak said at least 10 people were injured in the attack and the condition of some of them was serious. Huge plume of smoke and dust rose from the road where the explosion happened and traffic was thrown into disarray, video footage from the scene showed.
(Developing story)
