Australia marks 20th anniversary of Bali bombings, Albanese says 'ache does not dim'

Australia on Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of the Bali bombings, with the country's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying that two decades after the terrible attacks, the "ache does not dim".

The Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. It is one of the world's deadliest militant attacks.

The attack had left 202 people dead, including 88 Australians and 38 Indonesian citizens. More than 200 people were injured.

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The attack on October 12, 2002, involved the detonation of three bombs, including a car bomb that exploded outside the Sari Club in Bali's Kuta Beach area. An almost simultaneous blast took place at the Paddy's Bar across the road.

To pay respectand remember the victims, commemorations were held in Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday.

Twenty years ago, the shockwaves from Bali reached our shores. Today at Dolphins Point in Coogee we gathered to remember the 88 Australians who never came home.

So many futures were stolen that night. pic.twitter.com/1dnHxdCMQX — Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) October 12, 2022

Today we remember the 88 Australians who lost their lives in the Bali Bombings 20 years ago, and we grieve with the families and communities they left behind. This morning I will attend a service at the Bali Memorial statue at Coogee Beach. pic.twitter.com/1gIWLoIzIS — Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) October 11, 2022

At the event, which took place in a Sydney suburb, Albanese said, "Twenty years ago, an act of malice and calculated depravity robbed the world of 202 lives, including 88 Australians. Twenty years on, the ache does not dim."

"That night, the terrorists could not achieve their aim. What they struck they could not defeat, because what they struck at was the idea of 'us'...they struck at humanity," he added.

Several members of the Southeast Asian Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) were convicted in relation to the bombings, including three individuals who were sentenced to death.

Reports have mentioned that the attacks aimed to scare away foreigners so that Indonesia could eventually become part of a larger Islamic caliphate.

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