After several years of relative quiet in Indonesia, the Islamist terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah has apparently struck again.  In a fresh attack on Indonesia’s tourist industry, two bombs exploded at hotels known for their high security, killing eight people, including at least one American.  Authorities defused a third bomb before detonation, but suspect the other two were suicide attacks:

Bomb blasts ripped through luxury hotels in the heart of Indonesia’s capital on Friday, killing eight people and wounding dozens in attacks the president said badly hurt confidence in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

The attackers targeted the JW Marriott hotel, scene of a car bomb in 2003, and the Ritz-Carlton, both popular with visiting international businessmen and thought to boast some of the tightest security in Jakarta. …

Police originally said nine people had been killed in the blasts, but later reduced the number to eight. They also said a blast on a toll road in the north of the capital originally attributed to a car bomb was actually a vehicle short circuit.

How the bombers may have bypassed some of the toughest security in Indonesia remains unclear, but police said a third device had been found and defused in a laptop bag on the 18th floor of the Marriott, prompting speculation they could have gained entry by checking in as paying guests.

Indonesia’s TVOne showed closed-circuit television footage of a man they said was the Ritz-Carlton’s suspected suicide bomber. He was wearing a baseball cap and pulling a wheelie-bag through the lobby.

Jemaah Islamiyah conducted the 2002 attack in Bali which killed over 200 people, mainly tourists.  In 2005 they conducted a repeat attack on Bali, killing 20 people and wounding 129.  The US lists JI as an al-Qaeda affiliate, and one of their most effective.

Indonesia thought they had stamped out JI.  Following the 2005 attack, the government arrested a number of people linked to JI.  The group’s military leader, Riduan Isamuddin (known better by his nom de guerre Hambali), currently lives at Guantanamo Bay, one of the intractable problems with which Barack Obama will have to deal when closing down the prison next year. However, Indonesia took a lot of criticism for their relatively soft treatment of JI terrorists during their trials, and that criticism will likely return along with JI.

Update: Reuters has video of the blast at one of the hotels (h/t HA reader Carolyn M):