Incident Summary:

07/17/2009: On Friday at between 0745 and 0800 , in one of two related attacks, two suicide bombers detonated improvised explosive devices in the restaurants of two hotels, The Marriott and the Ritz Carlton, in Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia. The blasts blew out windows and scattered debris and glass across the street, kicking up a thick plume of smoke. Facades of both hotels were reduced to twisted metal. Indonesian authorities say 9 people were killed and more than 50 wounded, seven of the wounded being U.S. citizens. A message was posted on two radical Muslim websites supposedly by wanted terrorist leader of Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah, Noordin Top, who said his group was behind the bombings. 'It is retribution for all the acts by the United States and its lackeys against Muslims and Muslim holy warriors,' said the statement written in Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia. It was signed off by Noordin Top, with the title of 'emir of Tandzim Al Qaeda Indonesia', a breakaway faction of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militant group. Amir Abdillah, 34, is the first to appear of a group of defendants believed to have taken orders from Noordin Mohammad Top.

GTD ID:
200907170035

When:
2009-07-17

Country:
Indonesia

Region:
Southeast Asia

Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:

Jakarta

City:
Jakarta

Location Details:
The attack took place at the Marriott hotel in Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia.

Attack Information
Type of Attack (more) Bombing/Explosion
Successful Attack? (more) Yes
Target Information (more)
Target Type: Business
Name of Entity
Specific Description The Marriott and Ritz Carlton Hotels
Nationality of Target Indonesia
Additional Information
Hostages No
Ransom No
Property Damage Yes
Extent of Property Damage Minor (likely < $1 million)
Value of Property Damage Unknown
Weapon Information
Type Sub-type
Explosives Suicide (carried bodily by human being)
Weapon Details
An improvised explosive device was used in the attack.
Additional Information
Suicide Attack?Yes
Part of Multiple Incident?Yes
Criterion 1 (more) Yes
Criterion 2 (more) Yes
Criterion 3 (more) Yes
Doubt Terrorism Proper (more) No
Additional Information This was one of two related attacks (cf. 200907170036). The available sources listed the fatalities for this attack from 53 to 50, and the injuries for this attack from nine to 11, so the majority casualty figures have been used in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database. The available sources listed the fatalities for these attacks cumulatively as 11, and the injuries for these attacks cumulatively as 50, so these figures have been distributed evenly for these cases in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database.
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name Claimed Responsibility
Jemaah Islamiya (JI) (suspected) Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Posted to website, blog, etc.)
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators 2
Number of Captured Perpetrators 0
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties 5 Fatalities / 25 Injured
Total Number of Fatalities 5
Number of U.S. Fatalities 0
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities 1
Total Number of Injured 25
Number of U.S. Injured 3
Number of Perpetrators Injured 0
Sources
Fox News, "Eight Americans Among Injured in Deadly Jakarta Luxury Hotel Blasts," http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,533424,00.html (July 27, 2009).
National Counterterrorism Center, "Seven Civilians Killed, 53 Others Wounded in Multiple Suicide Improvised Explosive Device Attack ini Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia," Worldwide Incidents Tracking System, January 05, 2010.
Salim Osman, Straits Times, “Group Bombed Jakarta Hotels, Says Noordin Top,” LexisNexis Academic, Straits Times, July 30, 2009.