Swordsman hurts 4 people in church
SLEMAN, Indonesia — Police in Indonesia wounded a sword-wielding man who attacked a church congregation during Sunday Mass, injuring four people, including a German priest.
The reason for the attack Sunday morning in Sleman district in Yogyakarta province was not immediately clear. The 22-year-old attacker decapitated statues of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary during the incident, photos showed.
Churches are a common target for Islamic militants in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
Police detective Fendi Timur said counterterrorism police would be involved in the investigation.
Witnesses and police said the injured included a police officer who tried to subdue the attacker and the 81-year-old priest Karl Edmund Prier, a longtime resident of Indonesia.
5 Indian soldiers die in 2-day clash
JAMMU, India — Shooting between soldiers and militants holed up inside an army camp in Indian-controlled Kashmir left at least five soldiers and one civilian dead, officials said Sunday, the second day of the battle.
Today, officials announced the end of the gunbattle. S.P. Vaid, the region’s top police official, said the three militants involved in the attack were killed by late Sunday.
The fighting began at dawn Saturday when the militants stormed the Sunjuwan army base on the outskirts of the city of Jammu. At least 11 people were injured.
Security forces swept through the camp slowly, since soldiers and their families live there, Vaid said.
The Himalayan region of Kashmir is divided between India and archrival and neighbor Pakistan. Both claim the region in its entirety.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep among Kashmir’s mostly Muslim population. Several militant groups have been fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989. About 70,000 people have been killed.
18 people killed at Venezuela mine
CIUDAD GUAYANA, Venezuela — At least 18 people were killed at an illegal gold mine in southern Venezuela during clashes with security forces looking to take control of the area, an official said Sunday.
The confrontation was confirmed by an army officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to discuss the operation. He said it broke out Saturday when the army traveled to the Cicapra mine after receiving information that an armed gang was threatening wildcat miners in the remote area in Bolivar state.
Details of the incident were not released, though officials said no soldiers were among those killed.
The officer said none of the dead carried identification, but that one of those killed is believed to be a woman known locally as “the boss” who is suspected of taking control of the area after the murder last year of her brother, Anderson Rodriguez, an alleged gang leader known for his ruthless treatment of miners.
A Section on 02/12/2018