Bomb, gun attack in Indonesian capital, several dead
Assault on Jakarta involves several bombs and a gunfight; police say there are up to 14 attackers.
Jakarta police spokesman Col. Muhammad Iqbal saidseven people including four attackers were killed. He said police had recovered the bodies of the attackers, but it was not clear if more remain at large.
Indonesia's national police spokesman said the people who attacked a busy shopping area in downtown Jakarta were copying the recent Paris attacks and were probably connected to the Islamic State group.
Gen. Anton Charliyan said: "They imitated the terror actions in Paris ... they are likely from the (Islamic State) group."
He said police had received information in late November about a warning from the Islamic State group that "there will be a concert" in Indonesia, meaning an attack.
Media said six bombs went off and a Reuters witness saw three dead people and a gunfight going on. One blast was in a Starbucks cafe and security forces were later seen entering the building.
Police said they suspected a suicide bomber was responsible for at least one of the blasts and up to 14 militant gunmen were involved in the attack, Metro TV reported.
"The Starbucks cafe windows are blown out. I see three dead people on the road. There has been a lull in the shooting but someone is on the roof of the building and police are aiming their guns at him," said a Reuters photographer.
The first explosion apparently triggered a gun-battle between the attackers and anti-terror police squads, and gunfire could be heard more than an hour and a half later.
Tri Seranto, a bank security guard, told The Associated Press he saw at least five attackers, including three suicide bombers who exploded themselves in the Starbucks.
He said he was out on the street when he saw the three men entering Starbucks and saw them blowing themselves up one by one. He said the other two attackers, carrying handguns, entered a police post from where he heard gunfire. He said he later saw one policeman dead and three seriously wounded.
He said he was not injured in the explosions as he was a little distance away, but close enough to witness the attack at 10:30 AM.
He said the two gunmen ran away with police chasing them.
About two hours later, another explosion was heard from a cafe near the Starbucks, about five minutes after 25 anti-terror policemen entered it. It was not clear if the explosion was a controlled detonation or a bomb.
Gunshots were heard after the midmorning explosion in front of the Sarinah shopping mall and a police station. The area also has many luxury hotels, and offices and embassies, including the French. The other set of explosions were in neighborhoods where the embassies of Turkey and Pakistan are located.
The attacks were not a complete surprise to Indonesian authorities, who warned last month of a credible threat.
The government deployed 150,000 security personnel to safeguard churches, airports and other public places across the predominantly Muslim nation, and made a series of pre-emptive arrests.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but suspicion is likely to fall on Islamic militant groups, which have carried out several attacks in the past across Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
It would be the first major attack in the capital Jakarta since the bombings of two hotels in 2009.
"This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people," President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, said in statement on television. Jokowi who is on a working visit in West Java town of Cirebon, said he is returning to Jakarta immediately.
Indonesia has been on edge in recent weeks over the threat posed by Islamist militants and counter-terrorism police have launched a crackdown on people with suspected links to Islamic State.
"We have previously received a threat from Islamic State that Indonesia will be the spotlight," police spokesman Anton Charliyan told reporters. But he said police did not know who was resposible.
He said three policemen and three civilians had been killed.
