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Indonesian teen arrested on suspicion of terror attack

18-year-old held on suspicion of terror attack after tries to kill priest in North Sumatra church as preaches from pulpit

Ersin Çelik
13:18 - 28/08/2016 Pazar
Update: 10:22 - 28/08/2016 Pazar
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Indonesian police have arrested a teenager on suspicion of attempting a terror attack after he tried to kill a priest in a North Sumatran church as he preached from his pulpit Sunday.



Worshipers apprehended the man -- carrying a backpack -- as he attacked the priest at the St. Yoseph Catholic Church, leaving him with minor injuries on the left arm.



Local chief detective Nur Fallah told Anadolu Agency by phone Sunday that police were yet to rule if the man intended a "terror" attack.



"He was about to kill priest with a knife, and then he was chased by the worshippers," said Fallah.



However, North Sumatra provincial police spokeswoman Rina Sari Ginting told reporters Sunday that witnesses had said that the man had been “assembling a suspected bomb" made from a battery and a pipe hidden in a gold jacket before the attack.



She said that he had then stood up, with his backpack giving off “smoke, sparks and faint sounds of firecrackers", and rushed towards the pastor with the knife.



In the backpack police discovered a bomb component, and a drawing inscribed with the words La ilaha illallah (there is No God but Allah).



"We are still investigating his motives. It is true that there was a bomb component in his backpack, but it is still under investigation," Fallah said.



The man has been identified from his ID card as Ivan Armadi Hasugian, 18, from Medan city.




#Armadi Hasugian
#Indonesia
#North Sumatra
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