As frightened civilians looked on, police engaged in gun battles with the attackers while bloodied bodies lay strewn about in the street.
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Mr Douglas said he had been about 150m away from one of the blasts.
“The Starbucks cafe windows are blown out”. He said he later saw one policeman dead and three seriously injured. “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”, a Reuters photographer said.
In a brazen midday assault, a team of well-armed militants detonated explosives and opened fire Thursday in the heart of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. According to local authorities, five of the attackers and two others were confirmed dead, while almost two dozen people were injured.
After the explosions at Starbucks, a gunbattle broke out between the attackers and anti-terror police squads, and gunfire could be heard more than 1 1/2 hours later. “It was loud and powerful”, he said.
Meanwhile, Indonesia police have said that the threat is over and the area which was under attack has been secured. Last month, police arrested nine men and said the group had wanted to “perform a “concert” to attract global news coverage of their existence here”.
Authorities said they found a large, undetonated bomb and five smaller devices in a building near the cafe. Seventeen people, including a Dutch man, were wounded.
Up to a dozen attackers may be involved in the attacks that police said mimicked the Paris attacks on November 13 that killed 130 people.
It was the first major attack in Jakarta since the 2009 simultaneous attacks on the J.W. Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels, which left seven people dead.
Thursday’s assaults took place in a busy shopping area close to many embassies and a United Nations office.
Karnavian also said the attackers had links with IS and were part of a group led by Bahrum Naim, an Indonesian militant who is now in Syria.
“We will continue to provide support and assistance to the government of Indonesia as they work to defeat those who plan and perpetrate these acts of terror”.
It is estimated that 500 to 700 Indonesians have joined the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria and the government has expressed concern their return home could spark attacks.
The blasts focused on the Sarinah shopping center in the Indonesian capital with at least one explosion at a Starbucks cafe.
Eliaz Warre, who witnessed the attack, said he was riding on a motorbike when the explosion went off at the police post. Thamarin Street is home to many luxury hotels, high-rise office buildings and embassies, including the French.
The attack came after several warnings in recent weeks from police that Islamic militants were planning something big.
An Indonesian and a Canadian were killed in the attack.
But mostly Muslim nations regarded as more moderate have also been caught in the spiralling violence.
– At about 10:50 a.m. (0450 GMT), a suicide bomber walked into a Starbucks and set off his explosives.
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“This is definitely terrorism, but there are no indications yet that it’s ISIS related”, said Sutiyoso. Indonesian security forces have also intensified a manhunt for a militant leader called Santoso, regarded as Indonesia’s most high-profile backer of Islamic State, in the jungles of Sulawesi island.
