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FLASH ALERT: STUDENT-PERPETRATED BOMBING AT MOSQUE AND SCHOOL IN JAKARTA. AUTHORITIES ALLEGE HOMEMADE WEAPONS WITH REFERENCES TO WHITE-SUPREMACIST SYMBOLS; OFFICIALS BE AWARE

Nirmal Jose, Ignacio Valdés Fuentes, Jacob Robison, WATCH Team

Elizabeth Fignar, Editor; Elena Alice Rossetti, Senior Editor

November 8, 2025

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State Senior High School 72 (SMA 72), Kelapa Gading District, Jakarta, Indonesia[1]


The Counterterrorism Group (CTG) is issuing a FLASH ALERT to all law enforcement, citizens, and travelers following the explosions in Kelapa Gading, Jakarta, Indonesia. At approximately 1215 local time, blasts occurred at a mosque inside a high school during Friday prayer. At the time of the report, 54 people were injured and admitted to the hospital. Indonesian authorities told reporters the suspect is a 17-year-old male student who is currently undergoing surgery. Law enforcement deployed a bomb squad in the high school complex to collect evidence and to ensure no other explosive devices remain. Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus, an Indonesian politician, called on the public not to presume the explosions were a terrorist act, as police are still investigating their exact cause. Lodewijk Paulus cautioned the public from preemptively assuming it was an act of terrorism, encouraging them to wait for more information.[2] Multiple factors, including symbolism and suspect demographics, indicate similar attacks will likely occur.


CTG is on HIGH alert due to a bombing in Jakarta, Indonesia, allegedly involving a 17-year-old male student who referenced white-supremacist symbols. Youths who ideologically identify with the attacker will LIKELY transition from online radicalization to real-world attack planning, LIKELY circumventing basic content moderators and using encrypted services to quickly access informative materials and extremist content. The emerging trend of hybrid radicalization, mixing parts of different extremist ideologies, will LIKELY create unique security challenges where threat actors have unpredictable targets given a variety of extremist beliefs. Students at the affected school will LIKELY hesitate to re-attend until law enforcement and school officials implement adequate security measures, but will LIKELY still experience issues with truancy and cultural adherence due to LIKELY long-term psychological trauma.


Introduction 

Explosions occurred in a high school mosque in Kelapa Gading District, Jakarta, Indonesia, at 1215 local time.[3] At the time of the report, 54 people were hospitalized with minor to serious injuries.[4] The suspect is a 17-year-old male student who allegedly used a homemade explosive, and others reportedly bullied him. Currently, the suspect is undergoing surgery. Students at the school described the suspect as a loner who was known to draw pictures of violent images. A bomb disposal team deployed to the attack site, and the Jakarta Metropolitan Police confirmed the presence of suspected firearms.[5] Witnesses reported two blasts from the outside and the inside of the mosque of the SMA 72 school within a navy compound in Kelapa Gading.[6] The majority of victims suffered injuries from glass shards and burns, and 20 students remain hospitalized; three with serious injuries.[7] The incident is still under investigation, and police authorities have not confirmed a terrorist attack yet.[8]

Investigators stated they discovered a toy submachine gun marked with references to white supremacist symbols, including Brenton Tarrant and “14 Words. For Agartha.”[9] Brenton Tarrant carried out the 2019 Christchurch mosque shooting, killing 51 people, and 14 Words refers to another white supremacist term. Investigators believe the suspect built the gun, and confirmed they are examining theories that the attack was intended to be a suicide attack.[10]

Indonesia has not had a major terrorist incident since December 2022, when a Muslim bombmaker killed himself with explosives at a police station in West Java, killing an officer. Until now, Indonesia has experienced a “zero attack phenomenon.”[11] Indonesia hosts over 12 percent of all muslims in the world, at almost 250 million.[12] The muslim population reaches 87,54% and the majority of them profess the Sunni denomination. [13]


Analysis

The attacker's far-right references, such as “14 words,” almost certainly indicate prior interaction with white supremacist propaganda online. Other adolescents exposed to right-extremist ideologies who are simultaneously experiencing bullying will likely sympathize with the attacker, and there is a roughly even chance they will feel motivated to carry out similar attacks on their peer communities. Young people subscribing to white-supremacist ideologies will likely commit attacks against religious symbols, such as Muslim communities or institutions, to further their cause and gain notoriety while harming their targeted community.  These factors will likely culminate in copycat attacks platforming white-supremacist propaganda.  


The attacker’s isolated social life and bullying victimization background, coupled with far-right and white supremacist radical views, very likely indicate a new trend of hybrid radicalization in adolescents. This radicalization will likely manifest in grievances against institutions perceived as barriers, including Islamic religious schools. Radicalized adolescents will likely continue selecting various ideological beliefs to create their own quasi-ideology, likely likening themselves to accelerationist movements. These individuals will likely express themselves through attacks against Muslim communities, likely fusing neo-nazi narratives into elements of the attack, including weapon inscriptions or live-streaming during the event. Individuals holding similar hybrid extremist beliefs will likely carry out similar violent actions against their communities, using the attacker as a martyr for accelerationism.


The attackers’ use of a homemade explosive very likely indicates the level of accessibility for bomb-making information online, likely easing the transition from online radicalization to real-world attack planning. At-risk adolescents who feel ideologically similar to the attacker will likely turn to readily available encrypted services, such as Tor, commercial VPNs, and memes, for their ability to evade content moderation. These youths will likely capitalize on limited content moderation to access academic research on explosives, illicit forums discussing production or previous attacks, and memes indirectly explaining how to carry out attacks that slip through preliminary scans on platforms such as Instagram. The easy accessibility to malicious content will very likely challenge law enforcement internationally, likely compelling these agencies to preemptively expend resources on bomb prevention out of fear rather than legitimate intelligence. This culture of fear has a roughly even chance of creating security overreaches where police violate civilian rights, likely prompting new grievances and deepening existing ones that inspire bombing attacks against police targets.          


Muslim SMA 72 students will likely experience a heavy psychological toll from the attack, likely causing them to hesitate in returning to school. Impacted students will likely harbor long-term trauma and distrust of school protections. Students will likely lose trust in the Navy’s and school personnel’s ability to protect them, likely creating distrust between the parties that increases youth illicit activity and security personnel overreach. The dissolution of a secure school environment will likely hamper the effectiveness of youth education programs, likely creating generational concerns tied to trauma.      


Recommendations

  • The Counterterrorism Group (CTG) recommends that Indonesian authorities secure other schools and mosques long term, including personnel deployments during public hours, to visibly deter possible copycat targets.

  • Indonesian authorities should remain considerate of alternative risks and responsibly allocate resources rather than extreme refocusing of priorities towards bomb detection and deterrence.

  • Indonesian authorities should be transparent about investigative findings to combat the spread of misinformation and disinformation.

  • Law enforcement should track extremist activity in online forums and monitor the transfer of white supremacist material or the sharing of far-right propaganda between adolescents.

  • SMA 72 officials should prioritize securitization and adequate facility repairs before allowing students to return to the premises. Officials should release statements clarifying the actions they are taking to ease fear and tensions among students and families.

  • Educational authorities should develop an intervention-based protocol against bullying to avoid critical environments in school that might push students to extremist narratives.

  • Social media platforms, including Instagram, should enhance their content moderation protocols to better detect threatening information, such as memes about planning attacks.


CTG assesses that the current threat climate is VERY HIGH due to the presence of white-supremacist symbols and accelerationist ideology, and Indonesia’s majority Muslim population. White supremacist groups will likely celebrate the attack online, creating the notoriety that potential extremists seek. The risk of similarly motivated attacks by radicalized youth will likely increase as authorities release information and knowledge of the attack spreads.


Analysis indicates that there is a HIGH PROBABILITY of radicalized and isolated youth committing similarly motivated attacks in Indonesia and internationally. The visible reference to white-supremacist symbols will VERY LIKELY incentivize radicalized youths to investigate operational planning for their own attacks and expose themselves to extremist content. The easy access that the internet provides to youths seeking extremist and weapon-based content will VERY LIKELY create new security concerns for law enforcement. These limitations will LIKELY compel law enforcement agencies to preemptively allocate resources to bomb protection and away from other vital services, such as mental health response.      

[2] Fifty-four people injured in mosque blast at Jakarta high school, BBC, November 2025,

[3] Ibid

[4] Multiple explosions shake a mosque in an Indonesian high school and injure 54, AP, November 2025, https://apnews.com/article/indonesia-explosions-mosque-high-school-students-366d88d30e28bac9a5b2ac3b43de9b4f 

[5] Fifty-four people injured in mosque blast at Jakarta high school, BBC, November 2025, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clykgdg3l42o 

[6] Multiple explosions shake a mosque in an Indonesian high school and injure 55, NBC News, November 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/multiple-explosions-shake-mosque-indonesian-high-school-injure-55-rcna242527 

[7] Ibid

[8] Indonesia: Explosions at Jakarta school injure dozens, DW, November 2025, https://www.dw.com/en/indonesia-explosions-at-jakarta-school-injure-dozens/a-74655045 

[9] Multiple explosions shake a mosque in an Indonesian high school and injure 54, AP, November 2025, https://apnews.com/article/indonesia-explosions-mosque-high-school-students-366d88d30e28bac9a5b2ac3b43de9b4f

[10] Ibid

[11] Ibid

[12] Muslim Population by Country 2025, World Population Review, November 2025, https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/muslim-populationindicate-by-country 

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