On the 2000 Christmas Eve, a series of explosions took place in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

, which were part of a high-scale terrorist attack by

Al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

and Jemaah Islamiyah. The attack involved a series of coordinated bombings of churches in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...

and eight other cities which killed 18 people and injured many others.

Bombing locations

A breakdown of the bombings is as follows: *Jakarta: Five

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

churches, including the Roman Catholic Cathedral, were targeted, killing at least three people. *

Pekanbaru Pekanbaru is the capital of Indonesian province of Riau, and a major economic center on the eastern part of Sumatra Island. Its name is derived from the Malay words for 'new market' ('pekan' is market and 'baru' is new). It has an area of , wi ...

: Four police officers killed trying to disarm a bomb; a civilian also died *

Medan Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four mai ...

: Explosions hit churches *

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

: Explode at production, bomb maker died *

Batam Island Batam is the largest city in the province of Riau Islands, Indonesia. The city administrative area covers three main islands of Batam, Rempang, and Galang (collectively called Barelang), as well as several small islands. Batam Island is the c ...

: Three bombs injure 22 *

Mojokerto Mojokerto ( jv, ꦩꦗꦏꦼꦂꦠ (''Måjåkěrtå'')) is a city in East Java Province, Indonesia. It is located 40 km southwest of Surabaya, and constitutes one of the component units of the Surabaya metropolitan area (known as Gerbangkert ...

: Three churches bombed; one dead. One of them is the Eben Haezer church in Jalan Raden Ajeng Kartini. At around 8:30pm on December 24, 2000, while trying to throw the bomb away, a Muslim security volunteer, Riyanto, was killed; * Mataram: Three churches bombed *

Sukabumi , nickname = id, Kota Santri en, City of Learners , image_map = Map of West Java highlighting Sukabumi City.svg , map_caption = Location within West Java , mapsize = , pushpin_map = In ...

: Bombings kill three

Arrests

Two suspects were arrested following the bombings. Indonesian police say they found documents implicating

Hambali Riduan Isamuddin also transliterated as Riduan Isamudin, Riduan Isomuddin, and Riduan Isomudin, better known by the ''nom de guerre'' Hambali, born as Encep Nurjaman (April 4, 1964) is the former military leader of the Indonesian terrorist orga ...

in the bombings.

Abu Bakar Bashir Abu Bakar Ba'asyir ( ; ar, أبو بكر باعشير, ʾAbū Bakr Bāʿašīr; ; ; born 17 August 1938) also known as Abu Bakar Bashir, Abdus Somad, and Ustad Abu ("Teacher Abu") is an Indonesian Muslim cleric and leader of Jamaah Ansharut Tauh ...

was tried for involvement in the bombings in 2003 but was found not guilty; he was subsequently convicted of involvement in the

2002 Bali bombing The 2002 Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people of more than 20 other nationa ...

In popular culture

The Indonesian

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral ...

band

Kekal Kekal (sometimes stylized as KEKAL) is a heavy metal and electronic music band formed in 1995 in Jakarta, Indonesia. According to AllMusic, Kekal was one of the first heavy metal bands from Indonesia to make international inroads, and accordin ...

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 ''The Painful Experience'' is the third full-length studio album by Indonesian extreme metal band Kekal. It marks the transition of Kekal from straightforward melodic black metal to a more distinct progressive metal style, while still retaining t ...

''.

References

External links

Jemaah Islamiyah Shown to Have Significant Ties to al QaedaChristmas Eve bombings target Christians
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indonesia Bombings Attacks in Asia in 2000 Jemaah Islamiyah Mass murder in 2000 Terrorist incidents in Indonesia in 2000 Persecution of Christians in Indonesia Islamic terrorist incidents in 2000 Improvised explosive device bombings in Indonesia 2000 murders in Indonesia December 2000 events in Asia Islamic terrorism in Indonesia Church bombings by Islamists

Bombing locations

Arrests

In popular culture

See also

References

External links