DEFENDING ISLAM BY KILLING WOMEN AND GIRLS

There has been another machete attack on young Indonesian women:

A 20-year-old woman died and her friend was injured. Police said it was too early to tell if the latest attack was linked to the deadly sectarian unrest simmering between the region's majority Muslim and minority Christian communities.

The police may not know – or want to acknowledge – what's going on but local Christians have no doubts:

Christians see the attacks on the schoolgirls in Poso as part of a calculated campaign by Laskar Jihad, which subscribes to the same militant Wahhabi creed as al-Qaeda's Osama bin Laden and the Taliban and claims to have 10,000 fighters. It has dedicated itself to defending its beliefs across Indonesia.

When the first Laskar commandos arrived in Sulawesi in 2001 they were received by the provincial governor and the head of the local parliament, underscoring their support at the highest levels of government. From direct infusions of cash to fund the fighters to phone calls to local military commanders to prevent crackdowns, sympathisers have ensured that the Laskar Jihad can operate with impunity. Ask anyone in the government about their existence around Poso and you get a flat denial.

Dog Pundit has photos of the victims.

Maybe one of my lefty friends could fill us in on the root causes of these attacks.

Update: When a Muslim girl is killed the reaction is instantaneous and violent.