Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings

Medan, Bandung, Batam, Ciamis, Mataram, Mojokerto, and Pekanbaru

24 December 2000

Churches

18

118

Al Qaeda
Jemaah Islamiyah[1][2]

Islamic extremism, Anti-Christianity

Jakarta: Five and Protestant churches, including the Roman Catholic Cathedral, were targeted, killing at least three people.

Catholic

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

Pekanbaru

: Explosions hit churches

Medan

: Bomb exploded during production, three suspects died

Bandung

: Three bombs injured 22

Batam Island

: 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]

Mojokerto

: Three churches bombed

Mataram

: Bombings killed three

Sukabumi

A breakdown of the bombings is as follows:[4]

Arrests[edit]

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[edit]

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]

Terrorism in Indonesia

Christmas in Indonesia

Freedom of religion in Indonesia

Jemaah Islamiyah Shown to Have Significant Ties to al Qaeda

Christmas Eve bombings target Christians