Islamic State group backers circulated a claim of responsibility for the attacks resembling the extremist group’s previous messages.
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1231 – Police said they believed two suspected perpetrators fled in the direction of West Jakarta.
Military spokesman Colonel Restituto Padilla told AFP there had been no recent specific threats picked up by the authorities in the Philippines.
Gen. Anton Charliyan said: “They imitated the terror actions in Paris… they are likely from the (Islamic State) group”.
The Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), blamed for numerous Catholic nation’s deadliest bombings, as well as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) Muslim guerrillas, have pledged allegiance to Islamic State fighters.
The identity of the injured man was not revealed, and it was unclear whether the ministry and the Indonesian security forces were talking about the same person.
“Soon afterwards, two men riding a motorbike dropped their motorbikes, ran into a police post and blew themselves up”, he said.
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. A Dutch Foreign Minister spokeswoman in the Netherlands said he was seriously injured and was undergoing surgery.
The attack is the first major one in Jakarta since the 2009 simultaneous attacks on the J.W. Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels, which killed seven.
“So we think… their plan was to attack people and follow it up with a larger explosion when more people gathered”. It was not immediately clear if they exploded bombs or grenades.
President Joko Widodo said it was a terror attack. He told that the attacked area was about 9-10 kilo meters away from Pakistani embassy. It’s not known if this is the same Dutch citizen and U.N. Environment Programme worker who that agency reported was hurt. An Associated Press photographer saw three more bodies lying in a sidewalk.
The area has many luxury hotels, and offices and embassies, including the French.
Four suspected attackers were also killed four arrested.
“The state, the nation and the people should not be afraid of, and be defeated by, such terror acts”.
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.
The Australian Government has offered police and intelligence assets to Indonesia after explosions rocked the centre of their capital on Thursday.
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After hearing a blast, police officers headed to the area and killed the attackers.
