Indonesian Police Say Mosque Blast Suspect Influenced by Neo-Nazi Attacks
The blasts occurred during Friday prayers at a mosque located within a school complex in the Kelapa Gading district of the Indonesian capital, injuring 96 people.
Authorities said they recovered seven improvised explosive devices in and around the mosque, some concealed in soda cans, Reuters reported.
According to police, several of the bombs were detonated using a remote control, while others were set off manually with fuses. Three devices failed to explode.
Investigators also found a toy gun at the scene with the word “vengeance” written on it.
The suspect, identified only as a 17-year-old student at a nearby school, is being treated as a minor under Indonesian law. Jakarta police chief Asep Edi Suheri referred to him as a “child facing the law,” without disclosing his name.
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Mayndra Eka Wardhana, a senior official with Indonesia’s anti-terror unit, said the student was “a lone actor motivated by vengeance and loneliness.”
He added that the teenager had been exposed to violent online communities and appeared to admire neo-Nazi and white supremacist attackers, but did not belong to any organized militant group or follow a specific ideology.
Police believe the suspect drew inspiration from mass shootings such as the 2019 attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in the United States.
“That inspired the alleged perpetrator,” Wardhana said. “He felt there was no place to share his complaints, neither with his family nor school.”
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The suspect suffered a head injury in the explosions and is recovering after surgery, police said.
Authorities have launched a broader investigation into the incident, which has shocked Indonesia — the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation — where attacks on places of worship are rare.
Source: Agencies
