2004 Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta
| 2004 Australian embassy bombing | |
|---|---|
Floral tributes in front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta a few days after the 2004 bombing
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| Location |
6°13′5.4″S 106°49′52″E / 6.218167°S 106.83111°ECoordinates: 6°13′5.4″S 106°49′52″E / 6.218167°S 106.83111°E Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Date | 9 September 2004 10:30 am (UTC +7) |
| Target | Australian embassy |
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Attack type
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car bombing |
| Deaths | 9 (including the perpetrator) |
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Non-fatal injuries
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>150 |
| Perpetrators | Jemaah Islamiyah |
The 2004 Australian embassy bombing took place on 9 September 2004 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
A one-tonne car bomb, which was packed into a small Daihatsu delivery van, exploded outside the Australian embassy at Kuningan District, South Jakarta, at about 10:30 local time (03:30 UTC), killing 9 people including the suicide bomber, and wounding over 150 others. It gutted the Greek Embassy on the 12th floor of an adjacent building, where three diplomats there were slightly wounded. Damage to the nearby Chinese embassy was also reported. Numerous office buildings surrounding the embassy were also damaged by the blast, which shattered windows in buildings 500 metres (500 yd) away, injuring many workers inside, mostly by broken glass.
A dispute ensued as to how many civilians lost their lives after the explosion: local health authorities in Jakarta reported 9 deaths, compared to 11 deaths reported by Australian officials. Nonetheless, all Australians working at the embassy were reported alive. Among the victims killed were embassy security guard Anton Sujarwo, 23, and four Indonesian policemen on duty at the embassy. The rest were civilians, including the embassy gardener, Suryadi, 34, two embassy workers, a visa applicant, and a pedestrian.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard expressed his "utter dismay at this event" and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said, "this was aimed at the Australian Embassy, there's no question of that" and that the investigators' "suspicions turn to Jemaah Islamiah".
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 then Australian Opposition Leader Mark Latham 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".
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Wikipedia