TWO bombers are suspected in a blast that rocked an Indonesian cathedral today as Christians inside celebrated the start of Holy Week, police said.

“There were two people riding on a motorbike when the explosion happened at the main gate of the church – the perpetrators were trying to enter the church compound,” National Police spokesman Argo Yuwono said of the explosion in Makassar city.

“The bike was destroyed and there are body parts… We’re still collecting parts and trying to identify the sex of the perpetrators.”

The powerful blast at the church in Makassar city on Sulawesi island happened around 10.30am local time. Earlier, local police had said at least one bomber was involved with at least 14 church officials and congregants rushed to hospital with injuries.

It was not immediately clear if any of the injuries were life-threatening.

Churches have been targeted in the past by extremists in Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation.

In 2018, a dozen people were killed when a family of suicide bombers blew themselves up at churches during Sunday services in Indonesia’s second-biggest city Surabaya.

The family – including two daughters, aged nine and 12 – and another family of five, which carried out the suicide bombing of a police headquarters, all belonged to the same Quran study group and were linked to local extremist network Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

Earlier today, Makassar Mayor Mohammad Ramdhan said: “There are many body parts here at the church compound as well as in the street.”

News footage showed cars near the building were damaged as police cordoned off the area following the explosion.

The explosion at the city’s main Catholic cathedral happened just after congregants finished celebrating Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week, which commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.

It comes a week before Easter.

“We were finishing the service and people were going home when it happened,” a man identified as the church’s pastor told local media.

An eyewitness at the scene described the explosion as “very strong”. – AFP, March 28, 2021.