A series of explosions has rocked the Indonesian capital,
Jakarta, with gun battles on the streets.
Attackers set off a series of explosions in a bustling
shopping area of Indonesia's capital city.
Thursday morning in what authorities
said was an imitation of last November's terror attacks in Paris that killed
130 people.
At least seven people had been killed in the five-hour
attack, including five gunman, and 10 others were injured, Jakarta police said.
It was unclear whether any other assailants remained at large.
Jakarta police spokesman Col. Muhammad Iqbal said two of the
attackers were killed by police, but did not specify how the others had died.
Charliyan said the two dead civilians were a Dutch citizen
and an Indonesian, while an Algerian man was among the 10 injured.
But there was some confusion about the Dutch citizen's
status. A Dutch Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in the Netherlands said the man
was seriously injured and was undergoing surgery.
Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said said the attack
showed that "terrorism can hit everybody. Whether you are shopping in the
heart of Paris, in a New York office or on vacation in Jakarta."
Police had repeatedly warned in recent weeks that Islamic
militants were planning something big in Jakarta, a city of 10 million people.
It was the first major terror attack in Indonesia since the 2009 bombings of
two hotels that killed seven people and injured more than 50. Before that, a
bombing in a nightclub on the resort island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people,
mostly foreigners.
This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order
and spreading terror among people," President Joko "Jokowi"
Widodo, said in statement on television. Jokowi, who is on a working visit in
West Java town of Cirebon, said he is returning to Jakarta immediately.
The state, the nation and the people should not be
afraid of, and lose to, such terror acts," he said.
The first explosions took place in front of the Sarinah shopping mall on Thamrin Street -- not far from the presidential palace and the U.S.
Embassy -- at approximately 10:30
a.m. local time (10:30 p.m. Wednesday EST). Tri Seranto, a bank security guard,
told the Associated Press he saw at least five attackers, three of whom caused
explosions near a Starbucks.
Seranto said two other attackers carrying handguns entered a
police post, from where he heard gunfire. The two gunmen fled the scene with
police officers chasing them.
After the first explosions a gun battle broke out between
the attackers and anti-terror police squads, and gunfire could be heard more
than 90 minutes later.
About two hours later, another explosion was heard from a
cafe near the Starbucks, about five minutes after 25 anti-terror policemen
entered it. It was not clear if the explosion was a controlled detonation or a
bomb.
The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta released an emergency message
warning American citizens to avoid the area around Sari Pan Pacific Hotel and
Sarinah Plaza due to the ongoing attack.
Starbucks said one customer sustained injuries from one of
the explosions and was treated at the scene, while all employees were confirmed
to be safe.
The company also said its stores in Jakarta would be closed until
further notice as a precaution.
"We are deeply saddened by the senseless acts that have
taken place in Jakarta today," the company said in a statement. "Our
hearts are with the people of Indonesia."
Tweets from the account of Jeremy Douglas, regional
representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Southeast
Asia and the Pacific, described a bomb and "serious" exchanges of
gunfire on the street outside his Jakarta office.
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