2005 Indonesian Christian girls beheadings
terrorism incident in Indonesia
On 30 October 2005, three Christian girls – Theresia Morangke (15), Alfita Poliwo (17), and Yarni Sambue (17) – were beheaded by Muslim jihadists in Poso, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, an area plagued by sectarian violence since 2001. The attackers planned the beheadings after visiting the Philippines. In 2006, three men were arrested and in 2007 convicted of the crime, one being sentenced to 20 years in prison and the others to 14 years.
Background
Central Sulawesi experienced a lot of Muslim-Christian violence in the late 20th and early 21st century. The most serious violence, the Poso riots, occurred between 1998 and into 2000. Over 1,000 people were killed in riots, and tens of thousands were expelled from their homes. After a period of relative calm, hostilities were reignited by rumors that a Muslim girl had been raped by a Christian man. Thousands of Muslims and Christians were killed during the following year, and more than 60,000 families are reported to have fled their homes in the process.
The Malino peace accord was signed in 2001 and produced a dramatic decline in violence, but in the following years, tension and systematic attacks persisted. In 2003, 13 Christians were killed in the Poso District by unknown masked gunmen.
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