2 hotels bombed in Jakarta. AP reports minimum 9 dead, 50 wounded

[2muchcoffeeman]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/16/indonesia.hotel.explosion/index.html

Marriott and Ritz-Carlton.

1stADD: 6 dead, 29 wounded per AP. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090717/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_explosions_6

CNN reports at least 50 wounded.

2ndADD: Latest AP writethru repeats the 50 wounded number ... 3rdADD: and raises the number of dead to 9.

 

[Yodel]

Re: 2 hotels bombed in Jakarta. CNN reports minimum 6 dead

I have a distant friend who lives in Jakarta. Said she was on the way to work when it happened. Fortunately, she is OK. But she is clearly upset. Said the bomb was near her office.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

That country has been through so much in the last five years.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

TrooperBari report to this thread.

 

[slappy4428]

No ****...

 

[Bubbler]

TrooperBari report to this thread.

My first thought when I heard it on the radio. Hope he's OK.

 

[sportschick]

I hope he reports soon, too. I'm worried.

 

[GB-Hack]

He's posted over on the soccer thread since this was started.

 

[TrooperBari]

I hope he reports soon, too. I'm worried.

It's very kind of you to think of me. Thanks, folks — flustered as all hell, but physically OK.

For those who don't know, the two hotels that were bombed were to house Manchester United and the Indonesian All-Stars for their exhibition match on Monday. United is still in Kuala Lumpur (they play there on Saturday), and the Indonesian team only missed the blast because they decided to skip breakfast and head straight to the training ground. The match, as you would expect, has been called off.

If I had to guess, I'd say Jemaah Islamiyah was behind this, but there's been no claim of responsibility yet. Another desperate grab for attention while SBY's government keeps up its reforming push.

As you can imagine, the newsroom is buzzing.
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/

 

[Colton]

TB: Glad to know you are OK.

I can only imagine what that atmosphere must be like.

Be safe.

 

[Bubbler]

Good to hear from you, Bari. Hang in there.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Busted.<blockquote>JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian police hunting the terrorists behind last month's attacks on hotels in the capital raided one house and besieged another Saturday, killing two suspected militants, arresting five and seizing explosives and a car bomb, a senior officer said.

The developments appeared to be the first major break in the investigations into the attacks, which killed nine people and broke a four-year gap in terror strikes in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.</blockquote>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090808/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_terror_suspect_12

 

[TrooperBari]

Busted.<blockquote>JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian police hunting the terrorists behind last month's attacks on hotels in the capital raided one house and besieged another Saturday, killing two suspected militants, arresting five and seizing explosives and a car bomb, a senior officer said.

The developments appeared to be the first major break in the investigations into the attacks, which killed nine people and broke a four-year gap in terror strikes in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.</blockquote>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090808/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_terror_suspect_12

I hope you -- and the police -- are right, Capt. Caffeine, but I'll wait for the DNA tests.

If all this is true, it sounds like they intercepted a plot to kill the president, as well.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Busted.<blockquote>JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian police hunting the terrorists behind last month's attacks on hotels in the capital raided one house and besieged another Saturday, killing two suspected militants, arresting five and seizing explosives and a car bomb, a senior officer said.

The developments appeared to be the first major break in the investigations into the attacks, which killed nine people and broke a four-year gap in terror strikes in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.</blockquote>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090808/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_terror_suspect_12

I hope you -- and the police -- are right, Capt. Caffeine, but I'll wait for the DNA tests.

If all this is true, it sounds like they intercepted a plot to kill the president, as well.

Good old fashioned law enforcement is still one of the best tools available to shut these people down.

1stADD: Noordin Mohammed Top, head of Jemaah Islamiyah and self-proclaimed leader of Al Qaeda in southeast Asia, reportedly dead. Body in custody and transported for autopsy/DNA verification.

And, uh ... captain? I wasn't an officer. I worked for a living.
Thanks for the epic promotion, though.

 

[TrooperBari]

Not so fast, my friend.
http://thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesian-police-sources-body-not-noordin/323089

Police initially believed they had killed Noordin after more than 150 officers made a dramatic daylight assault on a farmhouse in Temanggung district on Saturday, but it appears they only killed one of his alleged accomplices in the July 17 suicide bombing attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels.

Two police counterterrorism officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Jakarta Globe that Noordin was not killed in the assault. They said intense media coverage of the raid, which began late on Friday afternoon when the farmhouse was surrounded, had perpetuated the belief that a man found dead inside was Noordin.

“Based on his fingerprints, his facial features and body posture, we can confirm that he is not Noordin,” said a senior official from Densus 88, the police antiterror unit.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Damn.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Body posture?

 

[TrooperBari]

Busted?

http://thejakartaglobe.com/home/noordin-m-top-killed-says-indonesian-police-chief/330424
http://thejakartaglobe.com/home/noordin-m-tops-death-how-the-terror-raid-unfolded/330437

Noordin M Top is among the terror suspects killed in a raid overnight in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia's National Police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said Thursday.

The body's fingerprints matched Noordin's in the Malaysian National Police database, he added.

Noordin is one of the most wanted terrorists in the region. He is believed to be the mastermind of at least five terrorist attacks in Indonesia, including the Bali bombing and the attacks at two luxury hotels in Jakarta in July.

Police stormed a house on the outskirts of the city at around 7:00 a.m. after a nine-hour siege.

We've been down this road before, obviously, but it'd be nice if they actually got him this time.