Indonesian families commit suicide attacks

Suicide bombers from the same family in Indonesia attacked three churches Sunday, and another family targeted police headquarters Monday. At least eight people died and 41 others were injured in the church bombings in Surabaya, the country’s second largest city. National Police Chief Tito Karnavian identified the attackers as Dita Futrianto and his wife, Puji Kuswati, and their children. Police said Futrianto drove a Toyota minivan and set off his explosives at the Surabaya Center Pentecostal Church. His two sons, ages 16 and 18, bombed Santa Maria Church while riding motorcycles. Kuswati and the couple’s 9- and 12-year-old daughters detonated explosives tied around their waists at the Indonesian Christian Church of Diponegoro after security officials tried to stop them. All of the family members died in the attacks. Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the bombings via its Aamaq news agency. Karnavian said Futrianto led the Surabaya cell of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, an Indonesian militant network with ties to ISIS. Another Indonesian family injured 10 people in the Monday attack on police headquarters in Surabaya. Karnavian said the four attackers on motorcycles died. An 8-year-old girl survived after the blast threw her off the motorcycle. Earlier Sunday, in a separate attack in the bordering town of Sidoarjo, one man detonated an explosive in his apartment, killing himself and two other people, including a child, said police spokesman Frans Mangera. Karnavian said all three families responsible for the attacks were friends. Indonesian President Joko Widodo condemned the church attacks as “barbaric and beyond the limit of humanity.”