The Deacon's Bench
It happened in Indonesia:
An Isis suicide bomber attacked a Catholic priest with an axe during Sunday Mass – but failed to set off an explosive device.
The priest, Albert Pandiangan, was injured after he was stabbed in the arm in a church in Medan on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, police said.
However, the 18-year-old attacker was restrained by brave churchgoers who rushed to the priest’s aid.
Pictures from inside the church show a young man covered in blood after the incident.
Local chief detective Nur Fallah said: ‘Somebody tried to kill the priest by pretending to attend the church service and at that time tried to explode something, like a firecracker, but the firecracker didn’t explode, it only fumed.’
The drama unfolded when the teenager left a bench, ran towards the priest and allegedly attempted to detonate a bomb in his backpack, national police spokesman Maj. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said.
Fallah described it as a ‘homemade explosive device’.
Another report has this detail:
Images of the priest later emerged showing him with a bloodied arm, while the suspect’s ID card was found at the scene accompanied with a drawing of the Islamic State terrorist flag.
Rina Sari Ginting, a spokeswoman for Medan police, said: “A terrorism act was carried out on Sunday morning at the Saint Joseph Catholic Church.
“Police are interrogating the perpetrator… and will search his house for any bomb-making materials.”
Photo: via Twitter
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