Two explosions hit two international hotels in one of the fanciest part in the Central Business District in Jakarta. The police suspects that the two explosions at JW Marriot and Ritz Carlton hotel were caused by bombs but until now there has not been any confirmation about this.

As this post is written, Indonesia’s news channel Metro TV has reported 8 people killed, 2 of whom victims of the Ritz Carlton hotel and the rest of the JW Marriot. Many are now worried about what exactly this explosions are all about. As BBC News reports in the video below, the world including Indonesia asks how these explosions impact Indonesia’s reputation in South East Asia for the past 5 years for being a role model in terms of new democracy. Indonesia has just held their presidential election peacefully 2 weeks before.

“The country of 240 million people has been praised in recent years for maintaining a pluralist democracy while finding and punishing radical Islamists responsible for a series of bombings five years ago,” BBC reports.

Unlike the bombings by terrorists 5 years ago, these explosions came from within the two buildings. The terrorist attacks in the past used a parked car outside buildings. Police are now investigating how the explosions happened and if it was by bombs, how they could pass through security guards and explode from within the buildings.

The last terrorist bombings in Jakarta hit the Australian embassy in 2004 but ever since, a combination of new law, anti-terror training, and international cooperation have kept Indonesia peaceful the past 5 years. This morning’s explosions have kept many Indonesians worrying whether this is another terrorist attack or related to the re-election of Indonesia’s president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (a.k.a. SBY).

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