At approximately 8AM in Kuningan, Jakarta, simultaneous bombs detonated at the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels. At least 8 people have been killed in the blasts and over 100 wounded. At least a dozen foreigners were injured, including citizens of Australia, Norway, South Korea, and India.
During a press conference, recently re-elected Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, blamed the attacks on a terrorist group, but did not give any specific details. During his tenure, Yudhoyono has received international praise for the anti-terrorism efforts his government has undertaken.
No group has yet taken responsibility for the attacks, but some police officials are blaming Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), an Islamic terror network in Southeast Asia that has also been implicated in a recent series of bombings in the Philippines. Australian security analysts believe a radical splinter group of younger JI members is responsible. The Australian government has worked closely with Indonesia on anti-terror operations since 88 of its citizens were killed in Bali in 2002.
The Bali attack was JI’s largest , killing over 200 people in two separate nightclubs. The group has also been held responsible for the 2003 suicide bombing of the same Jakarta Marriott attacked today. That attack killed 12 people and wounded 150.
There have been over a dozen hotel bombings in the last 6 years, foreigners are thought to be the primary targets, but attacks had been on the decline. Some analyst speculate that the Indonesian government crackdown on Islamic radicalism may have persuaded older members of JI to refrain from using bombings as a political tool, which has put them at odds with younger followers.
More analysis from Harry Tjan, the Chair of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), courtesy of the BBC.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
