Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings

Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings
Part of terrorism in Indonesia
Location	Medan, Bandung, Batam, Ciamis, Mataram, Mojokerto, and Pekanbaru^[citation needed]
Date	24 December 2000
Target	Churches
Deaths	18
Injured	118
Perpetrators	Al Qaeda Jemaah Islamiyah[1][2]
Motive	Islamic extremism, Anti-Christianity

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.

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 December 24, 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]

See also

• Terrorism in Indonesia
• Christmas in Indonesia
• Freedom of religion in Indonesia

References

1. Aubrey Belford (11 August 2011). "Bali Bombings Suspect, Extradited From Pakistan, Arrives in Indonesia". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
2. "Indonesia's Long Battle With Islamic Extremism Could Be About to Get Tougher". Tara John. Time. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
3. Turnbull, Wayne (3 July 2003). "A Tangled Web of Southeast Asian Islamic Terrorism: Jemaah Islamiyah Terrorist Network". Archived from the original on 8 May 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2006.
4. "Arrests follow church bombings". BBC News. 26 December 2000. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
5. Barber, Paul (25 January 2001). "Chronology of Christmas Eve Bombings & Acts of Terror in 2000". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
6. Widhiarto, Hasyim (23 December 2010). "Riyanto: A martyr with a life lesson on pluralism". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
7. "Statement by the Treasury Department Regarding Today's Designation of Two Leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah". United States Department of the Treasury. 24 January 2003. Archived from the original on 23 September 2006. Retrieved 23 October 2006.
8. mpomusic; Lord Rogoth, Negatyfus, Shamgar, Stefan, Natan, Daffie K. (25–30 January 2002). "An interview with... Kekal". Art for the Ears. Retrieved 5 January 2011.

External links

• Jemaah Islamiyah Shown to Have Significant Ties to al Qaeda^{[dead link‍]}
• Christmas Eve bombings target Christians