Poso, Indonesia - Muslims dragged a Christian man from a bus and stabbed him Sunday, a witness and nurse said, amid rising religious tensions in central Indonesia following the executions of three Roman Catholic militants.
The victim was hospitalized with wounds to his back, said Yeni, a nurse, who like many Indonesians uses only a single name. She described his condition as "serious."
About 20 men wearing black masks blocked a road in Poso town on Sulawesi island that was the main battleground for fighting between Muslims and Christians from 1998 to 2002 that left about 1,000 people from both faiths dead.
They stopped a bus and forced five passengers to get out, intimidating them and stabbing one before police arrived, said a witness who gave his name as Arman.
Communal tensions have risen on Sulawesi since the executions last week of three Roman Catholic men convicted of leading a militia that carried out attacks in 2000, including an assault on an Islamic school that left at least 70 dead.
Human rights groups allege their trial was unfair and questioned whether religion played a role in the sentencing. Few Muslims were punished for the four years of unrest, and none to more than 15 years in prison.
Overnight Sunday in Poso, unidentified people detonated two small bombs that caused no injuries or damage. Soon after, a Muslim mob set fire to a partially constructed church in the Muslim-dominated town, said police Capt. Wayan.
On Friday, more than 100 Christians youths, angered by the Sept. 22 executions, torched a police station and hurled rocks at a helicopter carrying a police chief, state news agency Antara reported.
Indonesia is a secular nation with the world's largest number of Muslims, about 190 million. In Sulawesi and several parts of the country's east, Christian and Muslim populations are roughly equal.