Prayers Two Decades of Bali Bombing, Release Birds as Symbolic

VIVA – The commemoration of the Bali bombing tragedy holds on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, in Bali island. Survivors, along with the family and friends of the victims, gathered to mark the two decades anniversary of the Bali bombings by releasing birds as a symbol.

The Bali bombing was one of the most terrifying terrorist attacks in the world. A total of 202 people, including 88 Australians and 38 Indonesians, were killed when a car bomb exploded outside the Sari Club in Bali's Kuta Beach area, and from another near-simultaneous explosion at Paddy's Bar across the street.

A ceremony including a peace prayer and the symbolic release of twenty birds will be one of several events taking place in Bali, including at a memorial erected in the area of ??the explosion.

"Memories for us are to remember, to remind everyone that there was a terrorist attack there and we don't want that to happen again," Ni Luh Erniati who lost her husband in the attack said.

After twenty years of events perpetrated by the Al Qaeda-linked Jihad network, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), there are still many survivors who remember the incident clearly.

The Father of two kids in Bali, I Dewa Ketut Rudita Widia Putra, was stuck in traffic on a busy road in Kuta when the bomb was detonated. After crawling out of his car, he was rushed to the hospital with burns covering a third of his body.

"Until now, I'm still traumatized and scared when I get out of the car and get stuck in traffic," I Dewa Ketut said as quoted from The Sundaily, Wednesday, October 12, 2022.

“Even when I realized I wasn't in Kuta traffic, I could be shaking with fear, breaking out in a cold sweat, and feeling scared.” He added.

It is known that the Indonesian police and the Australian Consulate General in Bali will also hold a commemoration.

After the Bali bombings and with support from Australia and the United States, Indonesia formed an elite counter-terrorism unit called the Special Detachment or Densus 88 which weakened JI and resulted in the capture or execution of several suspected Islamist militants.