Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings
Bombings in Indonesia churches in 2000
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On 24 December 2000, a series of explosions took place in Indonesia, which were part of a high-scale terrorist attack by Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah.[3] The attack, which occurred on Christmas Eve, involved a series of coordinated bombings of churches in Jakarta and eight other cities which killed 18 people and injured many others.
| Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings | |
|---|---|
| Location | Medan, Bandung, Batam, Ciamis, Mataram, Mojokerto, and Pekanbaru[citation needed] |
| Date | 24 December 2000 |
| Target | Churches |
Attack type | Terrorist attack |
| Deaths | 18 |
| Injured | 118 |
| Perpetrators | Al Qaeda Jemaah Islamiyah[1][2] |
| Motive | Islamic extremism, Anti-Christianity |
Bombing locations
A breakdown of the bombings is as follows:[4]
- Jakarta: Five Catholic and Protestant churches, including the Roman Catholic Cathedral, were targeted, killing at least three people.
- Pekanbaru: Four police officers were killed trying to disarm a bomb; a civilian also died
- Medan: Explosions hit churches
- Bandung: Bomb exploded during production, three suspects died
- Batam Island: Three bombs injured 22
- Mojokerto: Three churches bombed; one dead. One of them is the Eben Haezer church in Jalan Raden Ajeng Kartini. At around 8:30pm[5] on 24 December 2000, while trying to throw the bomb away, a Muslim security volunteer, Riyanto, was killed.[6]
- Mataram: Three churches bombed
- Sukabumi: Bombings killed three
Arrests
Two suspects were arrested following the bombings. Indonesian police say they found documents implicating Hambali in the bombings.[7] Abu Bakar Bashir was tried for involvement in the bombings in 2003 but was found not guilty; he was subsequently convicted of involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings.
In popular culture
The Indonesian progressive metal band Kekal has cited the bombings as an inspiration for its anti-terrorism song "Mean Attraction," which appeared on its third full-length album, The Painful Experience.[8]
