A one-tonne
car bomb
A car bomb, bus bomb, van bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles.
Car bombs can be roug ...
, which was packed into a small
Daihatsu
is a Japanese automobile manufacturer headquartered in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.
One of the oldest surviving Japanese internal combustion engine manufacturers, the company was known for building three-wheeled vehicles and off-road vehicle ...
delivery van
A panel van, also known as a delivery van (United Kingdom), blind van, car-derived van or sedan delivery (United States), is a small cargo vehicle with a passenger car chassis, typically with a single front bench seat and no side windows behind ...
,
explode
An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amount of matter associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Explosions may also be generated ...
d outside the
Australian embassy at Kuningan District,
South Jakarta
South Jakarta (; ), abbreviated as Jaksel, is one of the five administrative cities which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia. South Jakarta is not self-governed and does not have a city council, hence it is not classified as a ...
, at about 10:30 local time (03:30
UTC
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...
) on 9 September 2004, killing 9 people including the
suicide bomber
A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...
, and wounding over 150 others. The explosion gutted the Greek
embassy
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...
on the 12th floor of an adjacent building, where three
diplomat
A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...
s were slightly wounded. Damage to the nearby
Chinese embassy
This is a list of diplomatic missions of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The PRC has the largest number of active diplomatic posts in the world, including 274 bilateral posts (embassies and consulates) in 176 countries as well as 8 ...
was also reported. Numerous office buildings surrounding the embassy were also damaged by the blast, which shattered windows in buildings away, injuring many workers inside, mostly by broken glass.
A dispute ensued as to how many
civilian
A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...
s were killed by the explosion: local health authorities in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
reported 9 deaths, compared to 11 deaths reported by Australian officials. Nonetheless, all
Australians
Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...
working at the embassy were reported alive. Among the victims killed were embassy security guard Anton Sujarwo, 23, and four
Indonesian police
The Indonesian National Police (, abbreviated as POLRI) is the national law enforcement and police force of the Republic of Indonesia. Founded on 1 July 1946, it was formerly a part of the country's military since 1962. The police were formall ...
men on duty at the embassy. The rest were civilians, including the embassy gardener, Suryadi, 34, two embassy workers, a
visa
Visa most commonly refers to:
* Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country
* Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Vi ...
applicant, and a pedestrian.
Reactions
Australian Prime Minister
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the federal executive government. Under the principles of responsibl ...
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...
expressed his "utter dismay at this event" and Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Ki ...
said, "this was aimed at the Australian Embassy, there's no question of that" and that the investigators' "suspicions turn to
Jemaah Islamiah
Jemaah Islamiyah (, ''al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmiyyah'', meaning "Islamic Congregation", frequently abbreviated JI) was a Southeast Asian Islamist militant group based in Indonesia, which was dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic state in ...
".
It is unclear whether the incident was intended to influence either of the two upcoming regional
elections: the final stage of the
Indonesian presidential elections scheduled for 20 September, or the
Australian elections scheduled for 9 October.
The
Australian Opposition
In Australian parliamentary practice, the Opposition or the Official Opposition consists of the second largest party or coalition of parties in the Australian House of Representatives, with its leader being given the title ''Leader of the Opposit ...
Leader
Mark Latham
Mark William Latham (; born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator who is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the ...
said "The terrorists responsible for this attack are evil and barbaric and must be dealt with as harshly as possible and as quickly as possible" and committed the
Labor Party's "full support to all efforts by the Australian and Indonesian governments to ensure that happens".
A grainy photograph of a white delivery van suspected of carrying the bomb and the attackers was released by Indonesian police. Downer said that a mobile phone
text message
Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, tablet computers, smartwatches, desktop computer, des ...
was sent to
Indonesian authorities about 45 minutes before the bomb
detonate
Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves wit ...
d, warning of attacks unless the leader of
Jemaah Islamiyah
Jemaah Islamiyah (, ''al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmiyyah'', meaning "Islamic Congregation", frequently abbreviated JI) was a Southeast Asian Islamist militant group based in Indonesia, which was dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic state in ...
Abu Bakar Bashir
Abu Bakar Ba'asyir (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 Tauhid.
He ran the Al-Mukmin boarding school in Ngruki, Central ...
was released, and said that the warning was not delivered to the
Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...
until several hours after the bombing. Indonesian police said that they did not receive such a message.
This was the third recent major attack involving Australians or Australian targets in Indonesia, after the
2002 Bali bombings
The 2002 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist attacks on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attacks killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people ...
, and the
2003 Marriott Hotel bombing
A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Jakarta hotel on 5 August 2003, killing 12 people and injuring 150. Those killed included 11 Indonesians and one Dutch national. The hotel was viewed as a Western sym ...
. The executors of that attack, Jemaah Islamiyah, were also head suspects for this bombing.
Investigation

Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Jemaah Islamiyah, an organisation which has also claimed responsibility for multiple attacks including the
2002 Bali bombings
The 2002 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist attacks on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attacks killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people ...
and alleged to have links with
al-Qaeda
, image = Flag of Jihad.svg
, caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions
, founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden
, leaders = {{Plainlist,
* Osama bin Lad ...
. An Islamist web site, www.islamic-minbar.com, posted a statement by Jemaah Islamiyah saying:
Police announced that
Azahari Husin
Azahari bin Husin (14 September 1957 – 9 November 2005), also known as Azahari Husin or Azhari Husin, was a Malaysian engineer and former university lecturer who was believed to be the technical mastermind behind the series of terrorist at ...
and
Noordin Mohammed Top were suspected of being behind the bombing; Azahari was killed in a police raid in November 2005 at
Batu
Batu may refer to:
Geography
*Batu City, a city in East Java, Indonesia
*Batu Islands, an archipelago of Indonesia
* Batu, Iran, a village in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran
* Batu, Kuala Lumpur, an area in Malaysia
*Batu (town), Ethiopia
* Batu ...
,
East Java
East Java (, , ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost third of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern ...
, while Noordin was killed on 17 September 2009 at
Surakarta
Surakarta (Javanese script, Javanese: , Pegon script, Pegon: ), known colloquially as Solo (Javanese script, Javanese: ; ), is a major List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java, Indonesia. The city adjoins Karanganyar Reg ...
,
Central Java
Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...
.
On 1 October 2004, authorities identified the suicide bomber as
Heri Golun, based on DNA tests done at the scene.
On 10 November 2004, Indonesian police arrested Rois, also known as Iwan Dharmawan, along with five other suspects in
Merak,
Banten
Banten (, , Pegon alphabet, Pegon: بنتن) is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang and its largest city is Tangerang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capi ...
. During questioning, Rois claimed that he had received funds for the attack from a courier that was sent by Osama Bin Laden via Malaysia.
He told police: "According to Dr Azahari’s explanation to me at the time, the funds came from Osama bin Laden, and they were sent by a courier, but he didn’t say the name or when he received it".
He stated that the motivation for the bombing was Australia's involvement in the
Iraq war
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
: "The intention to bomb the Australian embassy was because the Australian government is the American lackey most active in supporting American policies to slaughter Muslims in Iraq."
On 13 September 2005, Rois was sentenced to death for his role in the bombing but appeared to recant his earlier confession by telling the court: "I reject the death sentence. I reject a day or even an hour of sentence because I'm innocent and I wasn't involved in this."
An appeal by Rois's lawyers against the death penalty was rejected by the Indonesian High Court in December 2005.
On 5 May 2006 the
International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, conducting research and analysis on global crises. ...
released its report entitled ''Terrorism in Indonesia''. It described the events leading up the attack;
On 5 August, at Noordin’s instructions, Rois set off to retrieve Heri Golun, who had been selected as the suicide bomber, and buy the Daihatsu vehicle that was used in the bombing. He enlisted the help of Irun Hidayat in both tasks. From then until 17 August, frantic activity moving the principals, purchasing additional materials for the bombs and raising funds – alternated with lulls, when the operatives went to Internet cafes to pass the time. On 17 August, Noordin asked Rois to check on Heri Golun’s state of mind. When Heri said he was ready, he moved into the house where Noordin and Azhari were and slept in their room at night, so they could give him additional religious counselling. On 23 August, Rois started to teach Heri Golun how to drive, and on 9 September, the new driver blew himself in front of the Australian embassy.
In March 2005,
Irun Hidayat was charged with being an
accessory by giving money to one of the bombing's perpetrators and providing housing after the attack for Azahari and Noordin.
On 21 July, he was convicted of being an accessory by providing a house to Azahari and Noordin, but not to having planned the September attack, and was sentenced to three years in jail. Hidayat was the first man to stand trial related to the embassy bombing.
[ According to the ICG report:
]Irun Hidayat was also a central figure. Inducted into Darul Islam by Kang Jaja in 1987 at fifteen, he was in the same class at Serang Islamic High School as Imam Samudra and Heri Hafidin, one of the three owners of CV Sajira. He became a close friend of Rois, and the two went to Ambon in January 2002. Irun became a martial arts instructor in the military training sessions run by Kang Jaja and Rois.
Since 1999, Irun also had been the local head of the religious council of the Indonesian Muslim Workers Union (Perserikatan Pekerja Muslim Indonesia, PPIM). He was to call on a fellow unionist to put up the bombers the night before they struck the embassy
Agus Ahmad was also captured and put on trial. He helped one of the core bombers, "Rios", scout for safe houses and transported around 70 kilograms of highly explosive TNT
Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...
. Arrests in July 2004 near the city of Solo
Solo or SOLO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Characters
* Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character
* Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity
* Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character
* Napoleon Solo, fr ...
forced Azahari and Noordin to change their base of operations. Agus used a Daihatsu van to move the explosives to his own house in Cianjur
Cianjur () is a town and district in the West Java province of Indonesia, and is the regency seat, seat of Cianjur Regency. The district of Cianjur is located along one of the main roads between Jakarta (120 km to the northwest) and Bandung ...
, West Java
West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...
.
See also
* List of terrorist incidents in Indonesia
* 2002 Bali bombings
The 2002 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist attacks on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attacks killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people ...
* 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing
A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Jakarta hotel on 5 August 2003, killing 12 people and injuring 150. Those killed included 11 Indonesians and one Dutch national. The hotel was viewed as a Western sym ...
* 2005 Bali bombings
The 2005 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist attacks that occurred on 1 October 2005 in Bali, Indonesia. Bombs were detonated at two sites in Jimbaran Beach resort and in Kuta away, both in south Bali. The attacks claimed the lives of ...
* 2009 Jakarta bombings
A series of bombings took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 17 July 2009. At around 07:47 until 07:57 WIB (00:47-00:57 UTC), the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Setiabudi, South Jakarta, were hit by two suicide bombers. The attacks we ...
* Philippine consulate bombing in Jakarta
Notes
External links
Reuters article
BBC News article
"Terrorism in Indonesia: Noordins Networks"
International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, conducting research and analysis on global crises. ...
"Combating JI in Indonesia"
Ng Boon Yian
* ttp://collectionsearch.nma.gov.au/ce/australian%20embassy#australian%20embassy?object=128645&_suid=143217098545205630135270928507 Damaged Australian Coat of Arms
{{Authority control
Embassy bombing in Jakarta
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