Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings

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On Christmas Eve, 2000, a series of explosions took place in Indonesia, which were part of a high-scale terrorist attack by Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah. The attack involved a series of coordinated bombings of churches in Jakarta and eight other cities which killed 18 people and injured many others.

Video Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings

Bombing locations

A breakdown of the bombings is as follows:

Jakarta: Five Catholic and Protestant churches, including the Roman Catholic Cathedral, were targeted, killing at least three people.
Pekanbaru: Four police officers killed trying to disarm a bomb; a civilian also died
Medan: Explosions hit churches
Bandung: Explode at production, bomb maker died
Batam Island: Three bombs injure 22
Mojokerto: 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: Bombings kill three

Maps Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings

Arrests

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

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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.