Jakarta, Indonesia - Seven suspected Islamic terrorists have confessed to beheading three Christian schoolgirls on Indonesia's Sulawesi Island, police said Wednesday.
The seven detained suspects confessed under questioning that they planned and carried out the Oct. 29 beheadings in the Sulawesi town of Poso, police chief Lt. Col. Rudi Sufahriadi told The Associated Press.
Another girl was wounded but spared by the assailants, he said.
Two of the suspects also say they have ties to Noordin Top, regarded as a key leader of the al Qaeda-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), according to Central Sulawesi police chief Brig. Gen. Oegroseno.
Indonesia has arrested scores of militants belonging to the Jemaah Islamiyah group in recent years.
Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for a series of suicide bombings in Indonesia, including two separate strikes on the tourist island of Bali in 2002 and 2005.
Four suspected Islamic militants accused in the October 2005 Bali restaurant bombings appeared in court in Denpasar on Tuesday, accused of supplying and transporting explosives to be used in blasts.
Poso, a coastal town, is some 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) northeast of Jakarta. It was the scene of clashes between Muslims and Christians in 1999-2002 that claimed more than 1,000 lives.
Sporadic bombings and attacks, mostly targeting the Christian community, have continued and police suspect Jemaah Islamiyah involvement.