A suicide bomber blew himself up inside an Indonesian church on Sunday, as hundreds were leaving a worship service.

The blast injured 27 people, one critically, at the Tenth Bethel Gospel church in Solo city.

A woman at a nearby Internet café told police the bomber visited her shop before the attack and browsed websites about al Qaeda. The bomber also left behind a bag with a copy of the Koran, a mask and a cellphone charger.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters preliminary reports indicated the bomber was part of terrorist network in Cirebon, where a suicide bomber attacked a mosque inside a police station about six months ago, wounding several officers.

Solo is home to Abu Bakar Bashir, a Muslim cleric tied to a 2002 terror attack in Bali that killed more than 200 people.

Pastor Rick Warren of California's Saddleback Church called the Indonesian congregation a "sister church" on his purpose-driven network.