“Daesh militants carried out an armed attack this morning targeting foreign nationals and the security forces charged with protecting them in the Indonesian capital”, Aamaaq news agency said on its Telegram channel.
Advertisement
Malaysian authorities have detained more than 150 suspects linked to the Islamic State group over the past two years, including some who were allegedly plotting attacks in strategic areas of Kuala Lumpur.
– January 14, 2016: Attackers set off bombs at a Starbucks cafe in central Jakarta and engage police in gunbattles.
The head of Indonesia’s intelligence agency said that there were no indications that Islamic State militants were behind a gun and bomb attack in the Indonesian capital.
“Jihad manuals” and bomb-making materials were seized, and six who were suspected members of Islamic State were arrested in west and central Java. “Kind of a denial or something”, he said in another tweet, referring to the pandemonium on the street below that took nearly three hours to bring under control.
Police said there were at least six explosions and they had shot dead three of the attackers and captured four.
He said three civilians and three officers were killed.
But mostly Muslim nations regarded as more moderate have also been caught in the spiralling violence.
Police said that Islamic State had threatened to put Indonesia in the “spotlight”.
Addressing Muslims in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and neighbouring countries, Zawahiri said the region’s Muslims were “leading an ideological and political battle against the seculars and the enemies of the religion”. He said that one Indonesian and one Dutch citizen had died, but the Dutch embassy said only that one of its nationals was wounded and being treated in hospital. Media said a police post outside the mall was blown up.
Indonesian police say the bombing and gun attack in a busy shopping area of downtown Jakarta has ended with five assailants confirmed dead.
“But we all certainly condemn the act which disturbed the security of the people and launched terror to the people”, President Widodo said. But given the firepower the attackers carried – handguns, grenades and homemade bombs – and the soft targets they picked in a bustling, crowded area, the casualties were relatively few compared to the mayhem and carnage caused by the Paris attacks. In 2002, it was the victim of an attack on the popular resort island of Bali, which left 202 dead.
Black armoured cars screeched to a halt in front of the Starbucks and sniper teams were deployed near Sarinah’s, Jakarta’s oldest department store, across the street from the United Nations building.
One explosion was in a Starbucks cafe and security forces were later seen entering the building. Later, Jakarta police spokesman Col Muhammad Iqbal said four of the attackers were killed, and their bodies retrieved.
Bank Indonesia said last month that it expects the Southeast Asian nation to have posted economic growth of 4.8 percent in 2015, which is near the bottom of its target range and would be the worst performance since 2009. A lot of these fighters are getting combat experience in Iraq and Syria, many of whom have experience handling and detonating explosives, he said.
Advertisement
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 Islamic State and Indonesians who return after fighting with the group.
