Detachment 88 was formed after the 2002 Bali bombings and became operational in 2003 . The name of the organization is a result of a senior Indonesian police official mishearing " ATA " in a briefing on the US Department of State 's Anti-Terrorist Assistance program as " 88 " . He thought it would be a good name as the number 8 is a lucky number in Asia and other officials lacked the courage to correct him . However , according to Brig. Gen. Pranowo , the Indonesian Police Headquarter Anti-Terror Director , the number " 88 " is taken from the number of Australian fatalities in the 2002 Bali bombing , the largest number from a single country
2002 Bali bombings
2002 Bali bombings
Detachment 88