Condolences sent to Indonesia over terror attacks hinh anh 1At the site of the attack in East Java province, Indonesia, on May 13 (Source: EPA-EFE/VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – President Tran Dai Quang and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on May 14 cabled messages of condolences to Indonesian President Joko Widodo over the recent terror attacks in Surabaya city of Indonesia, especially the bombings at three churches in the early morning of May 13 that left many civilians dead and injured.

The same day, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh also expressed his sympathy to Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

Earlier on March 13, a series of bombings hit three Christian churches in Surabaya, East Java province, leaving at least 13 deaths and over 40 others wounded.

Indonesia police announced later the same day that the bombings at three Christian churches were conducted by a family of six, including four children aged 9 to 18.

Speaking with reporters at the regional police headquarters in Surabaya city, East Java police spokesman Frans Burung Mangera said the family had links to the self-claimed Islamic State (IS) and were among 500 Islamic sympathisers who had returned from Syria.

Indonesian government believed that IS-related terror group JAD was responsible for the bombings. Meanwhile, IS claimed responsibility for the attacks through its Amaq news agency.

The suicide bombings were followed by a bomb explosion in an apartment building in East Java’s Sidoarjo town on May 13 evening, which killed a mother and her 17-year-old son.-VNA
VNA