(AFP) – An Indonesian city police chief was replaced for alleged negligence on Monday after two churches were attacked in renewed sectarian violence in the country’s Central Sulawesi province, police said. Palu Police Chief Noman Siswandi failed to provide adequate protection for the churches in Palu, where a bomb blast and a shooting incident seriously injured three people on Sunday, provincial police chief Aryanto Sutadi said. “He will be replaced later today. He should have been providing better police protection for the churches,” Sutadi told AFP. A bomb exploded at the Emanuel church in downtown Palu city, the capital of the province, early Sunday evening as a gunman fired shots at the Anugerah church in the city’s south at about the same time.
Central Sulawesi has seen intermittent violence between Muslims and Christians since more than 1,000 people were killed in clashes four years ago. The government has sponsored peace talks but tensions remain high.
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