<p>The morning bombing in the city of Solo, in Central Java, was the latest in a spate of attacks on minority religious groups in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. Solo, a city of 500,000, is the home of militant Islamist spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir, who was jailed in June for 15 years for funding a terrorist group that was planning attacks against Westerners and political leaders.<br /><br />Kristanto, a worshipper, said he and his wife were getting ready to leave at the end of the service at the Bethel Injil Church when the bomb rocked the building.<br /><br />"I was about to head home when a very loud explosion shocked me. A crowd of people from inside the church rushed to the streets," he told AFP.<br /><br />"They were screaming and very hysterical. The peaceful Sunday has quickly become a chaotic situation."<br /><br />"I helped several people who were injured and lying weak on the ground," said the badly shaken 53-year-old, who goes by one name.<br /><br />President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the bomber was part of a network based in Cirebon, 300 kilometres west of Jakarta, where in April a suicide bomber attacked a police mosque, killing only himself and wounding 30 with a bomb of nails, nuts and bolts.<br /><br />"This suicide bomber was a member of the terrorist network in Cirebon we mentioned a few months ago. I have called for a thorough investigation to find out more on this group, including who funds and leads them," Yudhoyono said in a televised statement.<br /><br />"On behalf of the country and my government, I strongly condemn terrorist acts as an extraordinary evil."</p>
<p>The morning bombing in the city of Solo, in Central Java, was the latest in a spate of attacks on minority religious groups in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. Solo, a city of 500,000, is the home of militant Islamist spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir, who was jailed in June for 15 years for funding a terrorist group that was planning attacks against Westerners and political leaders.<br /><br />Kristanto, a worshipper, said he and his wife were getting ready to leave at the end of the service at the Bethel Injil Church when the bomb rocked the building.<br /><br />"I was about to head home when a very loud explosion shocked me. A crowd of people from inside the church rushed to the streets," he told AFP.<br /><br />"They were screaming and very hysterical. The peaceful Sunday has quickly become a chaotic situation."<br /><br />"I helped several people who were injured and lying weak on the ground," said the badly shaken 53-year-old, who goes by one name.<br /><br />President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the bomber was part of a network based in Cirebon, 300 kilometres west of Jakarta, where in April a suicide bomber attacked a police mosque, killing only himself and wounding 30 with a bomb of nails, nuts and bolts.<br /><br />"This suicide bomber was a member of the terrorist network in Cirebon we mentioned a few months ago. I have called for a thorough investigation to find out more on this group, including who funds and leads them," Yudhoyono said in a televised statement.<br /><br />"On behalf of the country and my government, I strongly condemn terrorist acts as an extraordinary evil."</p>