At least 8 people have been killed in an attack at a Starbucks cafe in Jakarta Indonesian.
Police have confirmed that four of the attackers and three other police officer
were killed in the attack. The attack came after several warnings in recent
weeks by police that Islamic militants were planning something terrible.
It was unclear if other
perpetrators remained at large, but police said several hours after the siege
began that the ordeal was over and law enforcement officers were in full
control of central Jakarta.An
Indonesian news agency with links to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) said later Thursday that the group had claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Aamaq
news agency quoted sources as saying ISIS militants had "carried out an
attack this morning that targeted foreign nationals and the security forces
providing protection to them in the Indonesian capital." ISIS is
not known to have an affiliate or branch in Indonesia, but other Islamic
extremist groups are active in the country, and support for the Salafist
version of ideological Islam is rife.
It was the
first major violence in Jakarta since the 2009 bombings of two hotels that
killed seven people and injured more than 50. Before that, a bombing in a
nightclub on the resort island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people, mostly
foreigners.
No one
initially claimed responsibility for Thursday's attacks, which took place in
front of the Sarinah shopping mall on Thamrin Street and prompted a security
lockdown in central Jakarta and enhanced checks all over the crowded city of 10
million.
"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.
"The
state, the nation and the people should not be afraid of, and lose to, such
terror acts," he said. According
to an eye witness Tri Seranto, a bank security guard, told reporters that he
saw at least five attackers, including three who triggered explosions at the
Starbucks. It was not immediately clear if they exploded bombs or grenades. Tri
described them as suicide bombers but Gen. Anton Charilyan, a spokesman for the
national police, denied they blew themselves up.
He said
the attack involved an unknown number of assailants with grenades and guns, at
least one on a motorcycle. He said three civilians were killed. Later, Jakarta
police spokesman Col. Muhammad Iqbal said four of the attackers were killed,
and their bodies retrieved. Tri said
he was out on the street when he saw the three men entering Starbucks. He said
the other two attackers, carrying handguns, entered a police post from where he
heard gunfire.