Jakarta bombing: Attackers, civilians killed in blasts claimed by Islamic State, police say

Islamic State militants have claimed a gun and bomb assault on Indonesia's capital, police say, marking the first assault on the Muslim-majority country by the radical group.

Five of the seven people killed were the attackers themselves.
It took security forces about three hours to end the siege near a Starbucks cafe and Sarinah's, Jakarta's oldest department store, after a team of around seven militants traded gunfire with police and blew themselves up.
"A group of soldiers of the caliphate in Indonesia targeted a gathering from the crusader alliance that fights the Islamic State in Jakarta through planting several explosive devices that went off as four of the soldiers attacked with light weapons and explosive belts," the group said in a statement.
Islamic State's statement said there were 15 people killed but the official tally according to the Indonesian Government remains at seven.

An Indonesian police officer and a Canadian man were two other people killed in the attack. Twenty people, including a Dutch man, were wounded.
Authorities said the policeman was killed in a suicide attack on a police booth on the median strip of one of Jakarta's busiest roads, before shots were fired at bystanders.

 

What we know:

• Several initial blasts struck central Jakarta shortly before 3:00pm AEDT
• Islamic State claims attack
• Bombs were thrown at a popular Starbucks cafe, then a suicide bombing at a police checkpoint
• Blasts struck outside the Sarinah shopping centre and the UN's country office
• Shots were fired outside Starbucks as security forces moved in
• Police say five suspected attackers are dead
• Police Chief also confirmed a police officer and Canadian were killed

Deputy National Police Chief Budi Gunawan said two attackers were killed in a shootout with police, while two others were suicide bombers.
Two of the militants were taken alive, police said.
Jakarta's Police Chief Tito Karnavian confirmed the deadly blasts were linked to Islamic State.
"ISIS is behind this attack definitely," he told reporters.
The Police Chief named an Indonesian militant called Bahrun Naim as the man responsible for plotting the attacks.
At least six explosions rocked the area, including one at a Starbucks cafe in the city centre, near a cluster of embassies and the United Nations offices.
Police earlier said the blasts were caused by grenades, not bombs.
There was also a gunfight between attackers and police in a movie theatre that was in the same building as a Starbucks cafe, a police spokesman said.
Jakarta police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said that the situation was now under control.
But in a sign of public unease, a bang caused by a tyre bursting triggered a bomb scare that sent police cars rushing back to the scene hours after the attack.
"The president has said the nation and the people should not be scared and should not be defeated by acts of terror," spokesman Ari Dwipayana said.
The US Embassy in Jakarta said on Thursday it would remain closed on Friday as a precaution, but will remain open for emergency services.

Streets deserted, lined with debris in aftermath of attacks

Police responded in force within minutes. Black armoured cars screeched to a halt in front of the Starbucks and sniper teams were deployed around the neighbourhood as helicopters buzzed overhead.
The ABC's South-East Asia correspondent Samantha Hawley said armoured trucks, the head of intelligence and bomb squad officers had also joined police at the scene of the blasts
After the militants had been overcome, a body still lay on the street, a shoe nearby among the debris. The city centre's notoriously jammed roads were largely deserted.

 A candlelit protest has been held in Surabaya, Eastern Java island to condemn the attacks.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the blasts were "acts of terror".
"Our nation and our people should not be afraid, we will not be defeated by these acts of terror, I hope the public stay calm," he told MetroTV.
"We all are grieving for the fallen victims of this incident, but we also condemn the act that has disturbed the security and peace and spread terror among our people."
Indonesian MP Arief Suditomo said radicalisation appeared to be a growing problem across the region.
"They look just like regular Indonesian youngsters walking around shooting a lot of people and well this is some kind of new phase of terrorism in Indonesia," he told The World program.
Editor-in-chief of the Jakarta Post, Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, said the targeted area was quite popular.
"It's less than one-and-a-half kilometres to the palace, it's basically where the centre of government is," he said.

"Five hundred metres away is the central bank building, you have multiple government buildings, major, major centre of government area."
Indonesia has seen attacks by Islamist militants before, but a coordinated assault by a team of suicide bombers and gunmen is unprecedented and has echoes of the sieges seen in Mumbai seven years ago and in Paris last November.
The last major militant attacks in Jakarta were in July 2009, with bombs at the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels.
The country had been on edge for weeks over the threat posed by Islamist militants.
Counter-terrorism police had rounded up about 20 people with suspected links to IS, whose battle lines in Syria and Iraq have included nationals from several Asian countries.

Australian Government condemns attacks

  Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said officials in Indonesia were making enquiries to determine whether Australians had been involved in the attacks.
Ms Bishop said the Australian Government condemned the attacks, and that she had spoken to her Indonesian counterpart and offered any support the country may need to respond to the attacks.

External Link: Malcolm Turnbull tweet

Attorney-General George Brandis issued a statement saying the "Government has offered law enforcement and intelligence assistance to Indonesia" following the attacks.
Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, Paul Grigson, tweeted: "All Australians should stay clear of these areas, limit their movements and follow the instructions of local authorities."
Prime Ministers Malcolm Turnbull tweeted his condolences: "Australians' thoughts, prayers and resolute solidarity are with the people of Indonesia as they respond to the terrorist attacks."
Speaking in London, US Secretary of State John Kerry condemned Thursday's attack.
"There is nothing in any act of terror that offers anything but death and destruction. And so we stand together, all of us, united in our efforts to eliminate those who choose terror," he said.
Harits Abu Ulya, a expert on militancy who knows Bahrun Naim, the militant named by Indonesian authorities, said he expected more attacks.
"This is an indication that he has been learning from the Paris attacks and he has studied the strategy," he said.
"I still have doubts about the capability of the local militants to carry out attacks on a bigger scale. But it is a possibility."

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