Jakarta Mosque Explosion: Teen Allegedly Built Homemade Bombs Before Mosque Attack

A 17-year-old Indonesian student who detonated four homemade bombs inside a Jakarta high school mosque last Friday had secretly assembled seven explosive devices in his own bedroom, inspired by a gallery of international mass murderers including the Columbine shooters, the Christchurch mosque attacker, and European neo-Nazis, police revealed on Tuesday. Authorities stressed that despite the chilling ideological cocktail, the teenager acted completely alone with no ties to any terrorist organisation.

Described by investigators as a deeply isolated loner with nowhere to voice his grievances, the suspect spent months consuming violent extremist content online before deciding to emulate his “heroes.” Police recovered a toy submachine gun from his possessions covered in handwritten white supremacist symbols and the names of notorious killers from Canada, Italy, New Zealand, and the United States, confirming he had meticulously studied their manifestos and methods.

Using only household items, 6-volt batteries, plastic jerry cans, remote controls, nails, and chemicals easily purchased locally, the student built seven functional bombs entirely by following internet tutorials. Four detonated during Friday prayers, injuring 96 fellow students; the three that failed to explode were safely neutralised by bomb squad officers. Police emphasised the devices were crude but deliberately designed to maim and kill through shrapnel.

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More than half of the victims suffered permanent hearing damage, with four teenagers struck with sudden total deafness and one student still fighting for life with severe burns. Eleven wounded students remain hospitalised, while the suspect himself is recovering under heavy guard after undergoing two surgeries for injuries sustained in his own attack.

Because he has no organisational links, the teenager cannot be charged under Indonesia’s anti-terrorism laws but faces up to 12 years imprisonment for premeditated serious assault. Counter-terrorism officials warned that the case exposes a dangerous new trend of self-radicalised minors copying global mass killers without ever contacting established extremist networks, making them almost impossible to detect until they strike.

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