He identified them as an Algerian and a Dutch national, however Jakarta police chief Tito Karnavian said the second man was Canadian. Attackers set off explosions at a Starbucks cafe in a bustling shopping area in Indonesia’s capital and waged gunbattles with police Thursday, leaving bodies in the streets as office workers watched in terror from high-rise windows.
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Suspected Islamic State-allied militants carried out a brazen attack in central Jakarta on Thursday, setting off explosions and engaging in a running gun battle in the heart of the Indonesian capital.
He said the attackers imitated the recent “terror acts” in Paris and were likely from the Islamic State group, but gave no evidence. Islamic State militants have immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts.
After the coordinated attacks across Paris in November, the militant intellectual published a blog in which he explained to his followers how it was easy to move jihad from “guerrilla warfare” in Indonesia’s equatorial jungles to a city.
– September 13, 2000: A vehicle bomb explodes inside the garage of the Jakarta Stock Exchange building, killing 10 people and injuring 16.
Authorities also said they found a large, undetonated bomb and five smaller devices in a building near the Starbucks cafe after the attack. “Today’s attacks would appear to be the most serious since then”.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in a televised address Thursday, “Our nation and our people should not be afraid…”
– July 7, 2009: Suicide bombers walk into the lounges of the Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriott hotels in Jakarta and blow themselves up, killing seven people and wounding more than 50.
Reports of explosions and gunshots in the centre of the Indonesian capital, including outside the United Nations building and in the front of the Sarinah shopping mall, an area with many luxury hotels, embassies and offices. Story by the Associated Press, Reuters, and CCTV NEWS.
A Starbucks spokesmen wouldn’t tell CNNMoney how badly the customer was injured, or confirm whether the Starbucks was specifically targeted by terrorists. But he said police did not know who was resposible.
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.
Police have been largely successful in destroying domestic militant cells since then, but officials have more recently been worrying about a resurgence inspired by groups such as ISIL and Indonesians who return after fighting with the group.
An Associated Press reporter has heard an explosion from a cafe near the Starbucks that was attacked earlier. Police helicopters hovered overhead as anti-terror squad troops rushed in.
“It’s a desire to prove that jihadi groups are still alive and well in Indonesia and are committed to carrying out the ISIS agenda”, she said.
“My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones in the reprehensible attack in Jakarta”. I see three dead people on the road.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the “reprehensible” terror attack in Jakarta and said his thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones.
One explosion went off in front of a shopping center called the Sarinah mall, on a main avenue.
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Last month, anti-terror police in the country arrested nine men and said ISIS had wanted to “perform a “concert” to attract worldwide news coverage of their existence here”, according to Reuters.
