Mobs Attack Four Churches Near Jakarta

Mobs armed with sticks attacked four churches in this overwhelmingly Muslim country, injuring a minister and damaging pews and windows, police said Monday.

Services were in session in some of the churches when the mobs crashed in Sunday, said Capt. Hamdani, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name. The churches were all in Tangerang on the southwestern outskirts of Jakarta.

Hamdani declined to speculate on a motive, but media reports said the churches were targeted because they were established without the town's permission.

The mobs damaged pews and windows in the apparently coordinated attacks, Hamdani said. A minister was punched on the head, but his injuries were not serious.

Similar attacks on "wild churches," as some Muslims refer to unauthorized places of worship, have taken place in the past.

Christians make up about 10 percent of Indonesia 210 million people. More than 80 percent are Muslims, making it the world's largest Islamic country.

Christians often complain it is difficult to receive permission to build new churches, and so erect them in shopping malls and business districts in violation of planning regulations.

Muslim organizations accuse some Christians of overly aggressive missionary activities and question the need for churches in Muslim-majority areas.