JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Two churches were hit by bomb blasts in the east of the capital on Sunday, witnesses said. At least 64 people were injured.
Police blamed unidentified forces wanting to disrupt impeachment proceedings that were launched on Saturday against President Abdurrahman Wahid, a Muslim leader who has preached religious tolerance in overwhelmingly Islamic Indonesia.
Minister of health Ahmad Suyudi said that 64 people were injured. But church sources said there were 72 casualties.
Wahid, who visited the wounded at a Jakarta hospital, said the explosives used had been traced to an army warehouse and that he had ordered the army's chief of staff to investigate.
One blast tore through the Roman Catholic Santa Anna church as Mass was being celebrated before a congregation of about 800. Dozens, including two people who lost limbs, were hospitalized.
``There was a loud explosion. People ran out in panic. There were clouds of thick smoke and things fell down from the roof,'' said parish priest Father Suryanto, who was leading the service. Like many Indonesians he uses only one name.
Minutes later, a second bomb went off in an empty minibus parked outside a Protestant church. There were no injuries from that blast.
``We are being terrorized by people who don't want peace, but who want to create chaos,'' said A.B. Susanto, the chairman of the Indonesian Catholic Society.
The two churches were located near two military housing complexes.
Army generals opposed to Wahid's reforms have been linked with Muslim extremists who have fought Christians in eastern Maluku province, also known as the Moluccan islands. A special forces sergeant arrested after a bombing in September, mysteriously disappeared from an army stockade last week.
The explosions were the latest in a series to rock Jakarta and come at a time of heightened tensions as Wahid fights to stay in office.
The national assembly convened a special session and launched impeachment proceedings against him on Saturday amid tight security.
Police spokesman Col. Anton Bachrul Alam said thousands of police were on alert in case of further trouble and other churches in the capital had been told to take security precautions.
Last Christmas Eve, 17 people died in a series of bombings of churches in Jakarta and other cities.
Wahid blamed those attacks on forces wanting to destabilize his troubled administration.
The Christian minority mainly consists of ethnic Chinese, who have been targeted during times of political upheaval.
In the past two weeks, Jakarta has been hit by other bombings, including two street blasts from grenades thrown out of passing vehicles.
AP-NY-07-22-01 0635EDT
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.