Asia | A new low

Islamists in Indonesia deploy their own children in suicide attacks

Three families blow themselves up in a series of bombings in the city of Surabaya

Neither churches nor children spared
|JAKARTA

ALL terrorist attacks are sickening, but some more so than others. On May 13th a family of suicide bombers killed 13 people and wounded more than 40 others in attacks on Christian churches in the city of Surabaya in eastern Java. The father drove a car packed with explosives into one Sunday service. His two sons, aged 16 and 18, struck a second. The mother and two daughters, aged just 9 and 12, blew themselves up at a third. It was Indonesia’s deadliest terrorist attack since 2005 and the first to involve women or child bombers.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “A new low”

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