2016 Samarinda church bombing

2016 Samarinda church bombing
Oikumene Church in Sengkotek, Samarinda, the location of the bombing
Location	Oikumene Church, Sengkotek, Samarinda Seberang, Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
Date	13 November 2016 10:10 (UTC+8)
Target	Civilians, Christians
Attack type	Bombing, Murder
Weapons	Molotov bomb
Deaths	1 (Intan Olivia Marbun)
Non-fatal injuries	4 (including the perpetrator)
Perpetrator	Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Assailants	Muhammad Juhanda
No. of participants	1

The 2016 Samarinda Church bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred on 13 November 2016 when Muhammad Juhanda threw a molotov bomb onto crowds in front of Oikumene Church in Samarinda Seberang, Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. At least 1 toddler was killed in the incident and 3 other toddlers were injured. The perpetrator was later taken into custody by the Indonesian National Police for further questioning.

The bombing was the second attack on church in Indonesia in 2016, with the first attack occurred in Medan on August when an ISIS sympathiser attacked a priest during a mass. It was also the second terror attack to occur in less than a month, after another ISIS sympathiser was shot dead after wounding 3 police officers with a machete in Tangerang.

Bombing

The explosion occurred on 10:10 WITA (Central Indonesian Time), on Oikumene Church located on Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Road in Sengkotek, Loa Janan Ilir District, Samarinda. Oikumene Church is the most popular church in Sengkotek.^[1] At the time, the prayer service had just finished and crowds were getting out from the church. The perpetrator, Muhammad Juhanda, threw a molotov bomb^[2] from outside the perimeter fence. The molotov struck the children that were playing in front of the church and exploded,^[3] sending huge flames that even destroyed several motorcycles nearby. 4 toddlers were injured in the explosion. Juhanda immediately ran away, but later was caught by locals and people from the church after he fell into Mahakam River.^[4]

The injured were immediately taken to Samarinda's I.A Moeis Hospital

Firefighters, Indonesian National Police and its bomb disposal unit were immediately dispatched after the bombing. The injured, all of them toddlers with age ranging from 2 - 4 year old, were immediately taken by emergency services to Samarinda's main hospital, I.A Moeis Hospital. People from the church were evacuated from the area after the explosion. 2 toddlers were critically injured in the incident. On 14 November, the next day of the bombing, 2 year old Olivia Intan Marbun Banjarnahor, succumbed to her wounds and became the only fatalities in the attack.^[5]

Perpetrator

The perpetrator was identified by the Indonesian National Police as Muhammad Juhanda, a former prisoner convicted of attempted terror attack in Christ Cathedral in Jakarta and book bombs terror, both occurred on 2011. At the time, he joined a terrorist group identified by the police as Pepy Vernando.^[6] Before he lived in Samarinda, he settled in Bogor. He moved to Samarinda in 2015 and worked in local mosque.^[7] Juhanda was noticed by people shortly before the attack using a "Jihad, Way of life" T-shirt outside the church. He was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison by the Jakarta's Civil Court on 29 February 2012. In July 2014, Juhanda was released^[8] due to Eid Al-Fitr remission and immediately joined another terrorist group in East Kalimantan, named as the JAD, which has a link with the Anshori Group, another terrorist group that could bring weapons from the Philippines.

Aftermath

Immediately after the incident, several high Muslim organisations in Indonesia, such as Nahdlatul Ulama and Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) condemned the bombing, with MUI calling Intan's death as "a tragedy of humanity". President Joko Widodo immediately ordered the Indonesian National Police for a fully thorough investigation into the incident.^[9] The Chief of the Indonesian National Police General Tito Karnavian immediately stated to all Indonesians to "not panic" after the attack and stay calm.^[10] The Minister of Internal Affairs, Tjahjo Kumolo, immediately called the bombing as a terror attack.^[11] Jakarta's Religions Tolerance Forum condemned the bombing, calling it as "inhumane".^[12]

Security measures were immediately taken after the bombing. Indonesian National Police ordered security measures to be taken in Oikumene Church after the bombing. Similar measures were taken in churches in Medan and Yogyakarta. The Vice Governor of East Java stated that the East Java Government, including the police, Indonesian National Soldier and Ulema to stay alert after the incident, and taken a "precaution steps" in order to detect terrorism in the region.^[13]

Shortly after the news of Intan's death broke, hashtag #RIPIntan went viral on social media, with many Indonesians shared their disbelief and condemned the attack, especially knowing that the victim was a toddler. News articles and media in Indonesia immediately stated their sorrows and regrets for "not guarding Intan". Thousands of condolences were sent to Intan's relatives and next of kin. Those who sent condolences include President Joko Widodo,^[14] Ridwan Kamil, and many other political figures in Indonesia. On 14 November, a candlelight vigil, attended by hundreds of people, was held in Hotel Indonesia Roundabout (Bundaran HI) in Jakarta. Similar vigils were held throughout Indonesia, including in Samarinda and Pontianak.^[15][16] In Manado, the vigil was attended by hundreds of people from many religious beliefs. In Ambon, a peace rally was held immediately after the blast. Shortly after the incident, Muslim volunteers in Samarinda joined churchgoers to clean their church. Tolerance were shown between Muslims and non-Muslims in Purwakarta, Banyuwangi and Papua.^[17] A painting dedicated for Intan, depicting Intan as an angel with wings behind her back, immediately went viral after the incident.^[18]

References