Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 7, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleExplosions at a Jakarta mosque during prayers injured dozens. A 17-year-old student is suspected, and an investigation is ongoing.
By Ananda Teresia and Stanley Widianto
JAKARTA (Reuters) -Explosions at a mosque in Indonesia's capital Jakarta that injured dozens of people during Friday prayers could have been an attack, officials indicated, with a 17-year-old student identified as the suspected perpetrator.
Police said 55 people were in hospitals with a range of minor to serious injuries, including burns, after the blasts at the mosque inside a school complex in the Kelapa Gading area.
"We were so surprised by the sound, it was massive. Our hearts were beating fast, we couldn't breathe, and we ran outside," said Luciana, 43, who was working at the school canteen at the time. She described multiple blasts, broken windows and panic as dozens fled the complex.
"I thought it was an electrical wiring problem, or the sound system exploded, but we didn't know exactly what it was because we ran out just as a white smoke billowed from the mosque."
Deputy house speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, speaking to media after visiting a hospital, said the young male suspect was undergoing surgery, without giving more details or possible motive.
Indonesia's national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the suspect was a student at the adjacent school, and an investigation was underway into his background and motive.
"We have identified the suspected perpetrator, and we are currently investigating the perpetrator's identity, his environment, including his home and other things," he said.
CHAOTIC SCENE
Indonesia does have a history of attacks on churches and Western targets - but not mosques. Islamist militancy has largely been suppressed in recent years.
Police cordoned off the iron-gated compound as a crime scene, with black-clad officers carrying assault rifles while emergency vehicles and armoured vehicles lined up in the street.
The complex is in a crowded area on largely navy-owned land, home to many military personnel and retired officers.
At the scene, a line of shoes stood outside the green-painted mosque, while forensics combed through evidence. A damaged alms box and fan lay on the ground but there appeared to be no major structural damage to the exterior.
"I was looking for our kids who go to school there. It was crowded, we saw a lot of injured victims, there were some whose faces were destroyed," said local resident Immanuel Tarigan.
State news agency Antara quoted the deputy chief security minister Lodewijk Freidrich as saying there were two explosions.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto, Ananda Teresia, Willy Kurniawan and Johan Purnomo; Writing by Gibran Peshimam; Editing by Martin Petty and Andrew Cawthorne)
Financial stability refers to a state where the financial system operates effectively, with institutions able to withstand economic shocks and maintain the confidence of investors and consumers.
Risk management is the process of identifying, assessing, and prioritizing risks followed by coordinated efforts to minimize, monitor, and control the probability or impact of unfortunate events.
A financial crisis is a situation in which the value of financial institutions or assets drops significantly, leading to widespread panic and economic instability. It can result from various factors, including poor management, excessive debt, or external shocks.
A financial institution is an organization that provides financial services, such as banking, investment, and insurance. Examples include banks, credit unions, and investment firms.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
