Susan Sim, Jakarta – Two churches and a Christian school were destroyed partially in the West Java city of Bandung on Sunday by mobs angry over the illegal use of several shophouses for Christian services.

The attacks raised fears that religious fanatics would ride on the rising chorus of extremist-led calls for a jihad (holy war) to avenge the deaths of Muslims in Ambon to spread sectarian violence.

Church sources said that the attacks, which occurred in predominantly Chinese-owned residential areas in south Bandung, took place just as Sunday mass began.

Pastor Simone Timorason, chairman of the West Java Christian Communication Forum, told The Straits Times yesterday that the mobs, numbering about 1,500 people in all, appeared to have come from surrounding areas.

One church, operating from three shophouses in the Taman Rahayu housing complex, was visited first by a policeman and a government official who disrupted the service to ask if the congregation had a permit to use the houses for fellowship.

"The pastor said no. So the policeman and the official stopped the preaching and sent the people out of the church," Fr Simone recounted.

"Then, about 1,000 people came, took the chairs, the pastor's lectern, everything, out of the church and burnt them. "This happened at 10 am. But the police and the military did not come until 1.30 pm."

Even then, the officials were more interested in learning if the church had the necessary permits.

Another nearby church was also torched, as was the first floor of a four-storey building housing a Christian primary school. The mainly Chinese congregations were not hurt, he said.

Local news reports said the mobs also pelted other shophouses in the area with rocks. Homes in the posh estates were also stoned.

But a resident told The Straits Times that damage appeared to be minor. Most of her neighbours, however, stayed home yesterday.

Despite the presence of 20 policemen outside the complex, she was still "a little afraid", she said.

Although church sources said the intimidation of illegal prayer houses was common, they were afraid that the Bandung attacks were "possibly linked to the statements of die-hard Muslims calling for jihad in Ambon".

Sunday saw the largest rally so far, with 50,000 Muslims marching through Jakarta chanting "Allahu Akbar" and "Jihad! Jihad!" as they protested the military's failure to quell the Christian-Muslim warfare in the province once renowned for its religious harmony.