Church set ablaze in recent clash by Muslims

Following the rising tension between the Muslims and Christians in Aceh singkil district, Indonesia, reports say a church has been burned to the ground, at least one person has been killed and four others injured.

Hundreds of Muslims were said to have set a church ablaze then went on to the next church to repeat the same act but failed because Christians and the police was defending it, BBC reports

Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia responded to the violence by tweeting "Stop the violence in Aceh Singkil. Any background of violence, especially religion and belief, destroys diversity."

In the same vein, Protesters suspected to be muslims held a demonstration request unlicensed churches be torn down by authorities, Last week.

"After burning the church the mob tried to attack another church, but it turned out Christians were already at the ready," Aceh police chief Husein Hamidi told the AFP news agency.

"A clash occurred, and one man was killed after being shot in the head with an air rifle," he said.

It is thought that the dead man was part of the attacking group. Four people were also reportedly injured, one of them a member of the security forces.

Read: New York couple arrested for beating son to death in church

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, although it also has significant Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Confucian minorities.

Aceh is the only province to have officially introduced Sharia law, which is increasingly being applied to non-Muslims too.

The district where Tuesday's attacks took place is a Christian enclave, though correspondents say some Christians have already left, fearing religious violence.

Another church was also burnt down in Aceh in August.

And in July, a mosque was destroyed in the Christian-majority province of Papua, in eastern Indonesia, on the Islamic holy day of Eid al-Fitr.