JAKARTA: Explosions at a mosque in Indonesia’s capital during Friday prayers injured dozens of people, with officials indicating the blasts could have been an attack, with a 17-year-old student as the suspected perpetrator.

Police said at least 54 people were taken to hospitals with multiple injuries, including burns, following explosions at the mosque inside a school complex in the city’s Kelapa Gading area.

Although it wasn’t immediately clear what caused them, Deputy Chief Security Minister Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus said there were two explosions.

National police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the suspect was a student, who was injured and undergoing surgery.

Nature of explosions remains a mystery; ‘teenage suspect’ undergoing surgery

“Regarding the motive, we are currently investigating various kinds of information,” Mr Listyo said at a news conference.

Mr Paulus, however, urged the public to not rush to judgement. “Don’t jump to the conclusion that this is a terrorist act,” Lodewijk was quoted as saying by the Antara state news agency, saying a probe was underway.

He said the explosions took place at the back of the mosque on the school campus and near its door.

Investigators including bomb squad technicians were processing the scene on the school campus, and an AFP journalist saw plastic evidence bags on prayer rugs.

Luciana, 43, who was working at the school canteen at the time, 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,” she said.

“We have identified the suspected perpetrator, and we are currently investigating the perpetrator’s identity, his environment, including his home and other things,” Mr Prabowo said.

Police found a “toy weapon” with inscriptions on it at the scene, the presidential palace said.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2025