And added: “Police: There were six attackers, who were in communication with Syria”.
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Jakarta police chief Maj.
Gunfire was ringing out in the area afterwards, the journalist said. Thamarin Street is home to many luxury hotels, high-rise office buildings and embassies, including the French.
Indonesia has been on edge for weeks over the threat posed by Islamist militants and counter-terrorism police have launched a crackdown on people with suspected links to Islamic State.
A ministry spokeswoman says that the Dutch citizen was undergoing surgery.
The ministry did not release the man’s identity. Five of the attackers were also killed.
According to the official Jakarta police Twitter account, one explosion went off in front of a shopping centre called the Sarinah mall, on a main city avenue.
In retaliation to the deadly onslaught, Indonesians are tweeting #KamiTidaktakut which transates to “we are not afraid”. “We have taken control”. According to the private Dogan news agency the dead included the wife of a policeman and a 5-months old baby who were killed at the police lodgings and two children who died in the collapsed house.
It’s unclear whether Thursday’s attacks are related to the earlier reported threat.
Tri Seranto tells The Associated Press he was out on the street when he saw the three men entering Starbucks and saw them blowing themselves up one by one.
1322 – Starbucks said one customer was injured in attacks, and all employees were safe.
A police officer takes his position near the site where an explosion went off in Jakarta, Indonesia Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016. A series of arrests accompanied the warnings, as Indonesian police said they foiled a plot by suspected Muslim militants to kill government officials, law enforcement officers and others. A shootout then broke out between the attackers and anti-terror police squads. Smoke billowing from the scene of explosions in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“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”, he said.
The federal government has also updated its travel advisory for Jakarta, advising Canadians to remain vigilant, follow the advice of local authorities and avoid the downtown area at the centre of the attack.
Witnesses saw at least three bodies sprawled on the sidewalk after the fighting ended.
The video shows two of the attackers crouched behind a low wall near a Starbucks coffee shop.
There is no word on what happened to them, but after the explosion several other police and medical personnel in white overalls were seen running to the cafe.
M: Indonesian President Joko Widodo cuts short a trip to central Java to return to Jakarta.
There were unconfirmed media reports of explosions in other parts of Jakarta.
Who carried out the attacks?
“Five terrorists are dead”, Security Minister Luhut Panjaitan told reporters. The other set of explosions were in neighbourhoods where the embassies of Turkey and Pakistan are located.
“I see three dead people on the road”, Reuters quoted one of its photographers as saying.
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Jeremy Douglas, who works in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in the area, said the location suggests if the terrorists “wanted to make an impact and get visibility… this is the place to do it”.
