Knife-wielding attacker wounds 4 churchgoers in Indonesia

A knife-wielding attacker wounded four church-goers in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta on Sunday, officials said, before being shot by police who could not yet confirm if it was a terror-related incident.

The main street of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where four churchgoers were wounded in a knife attack. Wikimedia Commons

Police said they were investigating possible motives for the attack by the suspect, believed to be a university student, at a Catholic church service in Yogyakarta, the gateway to the cultural centre of Indonesia's main island of Java.

'We cannot confirm yet if this was a terror-related incident,' said Yogyakarta police spokesman Yuliyanto, who goes by one name like many Indonesians. 'We can confirm the suspect has been detained and is being treated at hospital.'

Yuliyanto said the unidentified attacker had been shot in the stomach by police. The condition of the wounded church-goers was not immediately clear.

Indonesia is an officially secular country and has the world's largest population of Muslims, as well as sizeable minorities of Christians, Hindus, and those who adhere to traditional faiths.

Communal and religious tensions have been on the rise in recent years as calls by hardline groups for sharia, or Islamic law, to be implemented nationally grow louder.

Indonesia has also seen a resurgence in homegrown radicalism, inspired in part by the militant Islamic State group.

News
Calls for urgent policy reforms to address widening marriage gap between rich and poor
Calls for urgent policy reforms to address widening marriage gap between rich and poor

A new report released by the Marriage Foundation has called for urgent policy changes by the government to address what it describes as a "calamitous" marriage gap of 51 per cent between wealthy and low-income couples.

Bear Grylls talks about faith in spite of doubts at Flame 2025
Bear Grylls talks about faith in spite of doubts at Flame 2025

Grylls described faith as an adventure and a journey.

Bible sales surge by 87% as Generation Z rediscovers faith
Bible sales surge by 87% as Generation Z rediscovers faith

Bible sales in the UK have risen sharply, increasing by 87 per cent from £2.69 million in 2019 to £5.02 million in 2024, according to new data from SPCK Group and Nielsen Book Data.

Lent and Ramadan have sparked complaints over the ‘woke’ storyline in BBC Radio drama The Archers
Lent and Ramadan have sparked complaints over the ‘woke’ storyline in BBC Radio drama The Archers

BBC Radio 4’s long-running rural drama The Archers has come under fire for its recent exploration of Ramadan, with many listeners criticising the decision to feature a Christian character, Lynda Snell, fasting in the run-up to Lent.