The worst terror attack in Indonesia took place in 2002 in Bali where 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, were killed.
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Police in the world’s most populous Muslim country have blamed the carnage on a network of Islamic State fighters from Southeast Asia forged in the radical jihadist group’s war in Syria and Iraq. The Government of the Republic of Indonesia condemned the heinous terrorist attacks that have killed civilians and offered condolences and deep sympathy to the victims and bereaved family members.
The assault ended when two of the attackers were killed in a suicide bombing, said police, with the other three killed in gun battles.
Tri Seranto, a bank security guard, told The Associated Press he saw at least five attackers, including three suicide bombers who exploded themselves in the Starbucks.
He says two of the five men were previously convicted and imprisoned for terrorism offenses. It differed from Indonesian police on the number of attackers, saying there were four.
The country had been on edge for weeks over the threat posed by militants, and counter-terrorism police had rounded up about 20 people with suspected links to Islamic State.
He told the ABC that there would also be a review of security at the Australian Embassy in the wake of the attack, though noted that it has always been tight.
The area near the Starbucks cafe remained cordoned off with a highly visible police presence.
Between 200 and 300 Indonesian Jihadis are believed to have travelled to the Middle East to fight alongside Islamist Brigades in the Levant raising fears they might return to carry out attacks at home.
Late on Thursday, Indonesians visited the site of the attacks, a Starbucks and a traffic police outpost, leaving flowers and prayers. Black armoured cars screeched to a halt in front of the Starbucks cafe and sniper teams were deployed around the neighbourhood as helicopters buzzed overhead.
“The police anti-terror squad keep intensively hunting for their target”, Anton said.
After the militants had been overcome, a body still lay on the street, a shoe nearby among the debris.
Insp Gen Karnavian told the BBC that main culprits had been “neutralised” but were “connected to other cells in Java and Sulawesi and we are chasing them”.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said in a televised address that “the state, the nation and the people should not be afraid of, or be defeated by, such terror acts”.
Indonesian police have explicitly likened the attack to the jihadist violence in November in Paris that left 130 people dead, and presented sobering proof to a horrified world of the reach and fanatical determination of IS adherents.
“They actually did a good job of cracking down in December against ISIS ringleaders and crews that were reported to be plotting widespread attacks geared toward Christmas and New Year’s”, noted Jonah Blank, senior political scientist at researcher Rand, on CNBC’s The Rundown.
Jakarta police chief Maj.
“Five hundred metres away is the central bank building, you have multiple government buildings, major, major centre of government area”.
In a recent blog post, entitled “Lessons from the Paris Attacks”, Naim had urged his Indonesian audience to study the planning, targeting, timing, coordination, security and courage of the militants in the French capital.
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The attack rattled the region, which has a deep history of militancy.
