poso

Masked, black-clad and brandishing machetes, the attackers sprang from behind a screen of tall grass and pounced on the four Christian girls as they walked to school. Within seconds, three of the teenagers were beheaded — fresh victims of violence that has turned the Indonesian island of Poso into yet another front in the terrorist wars.

Dozens of investigators combed the hills with specially trained dogs on Tuesday to search for any clues left by masked assailants who beheaded three Christian school girls. Authorities worry that Saturday’s attack outside the Indonesian town of Poso, a town long plagued by Muslim-Christian violence, could spark retaliatory acts just as relations between the two communities are improving.