PALU, Indonesia — A bomb ripped through an Indonesian meat market crowded with people shopping for New Year's celebrations Saturday, killing at least eight people and wounding 45 in a province that has long been plagued by sectarian violence, officials said.

The attack in the Central Sulawesi town of Palu followed repeated warnings from authorities that the al-Qaida-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah was plotting holiday strikes in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Brig. Gen. Oegroseno, the provincial police chief, said a bomb packed with ball bearings and nails went off as people were flocking to the market early Saturday to buy pork for the night's festivities.

On Christmas Eve, bomb squads searched for explosives at churches in the capital Jakarta and its satellite cities.