The Attack in Jakarta

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a terror attack in the Indonesian capital Jakarta that killed two people, and another five men who police believe have links to a fighter in Syria.

All five attackers and a Canadian and an Indonesian died in the midmorning explosions and gunfire that were watched by office workers from high-rise buildings on Thamarin Street in Jakarta, not far from the presidential palace and the U.S. Embassy, police said.

A Canadian man was killed in Indonesia’s capital Thursday when gunmen launched a series of co-ordinated attacks police said were probably linked to the Islamic State group.

Hours before ISIS released its statement claiming the attack, Tito Karnavian, Jakarta’s police chief, told reporters, “ISIS is behind this attack definitely”. Islamic State’s statement said there were 15 people killed but the official tally according to the Indonesian government is seven.

He said the two dead civilians were a Dutch citizen and an Indonesian.

“While the police and army have been focused on going after Indonesia’s most wanted terrorist, Santoso, in the hills of Central Sulawesi, ISIS has succeeded in building a network of supporters in the suburbs of Jakarta”, Jones wrote.

The first explosion occurred at about 10:45 local time and was followed by two other blasts and shooting by the suspected militants, Anton said.

“There has been an expectation that an attack would take place in our part of the world at some time”, she said, promising that Australia would assist Indonesia with “whatever they need” to combat terrorism. Thursday’s perpetrators were from the same group, police said.

“From what we see today, this group is following the pattern of the Paris attacks”.

A United Nations building nearby went in lock-down, and tanks, snipers and hundreds of police officers were deployed to secure the area.

Images from Jakarta have showed several bodies lying on the road outside a cafe, as well as seriously injured people being carried away.

It emerged IS had issued a cryptic warning in November previous year, saying, “there will be a concert in Indonesia and it will be global news”. Another 19 people were injured.

ISIS is not known to have an affiliate or branch in Indonesia, but other Islamic extremist groups are active in the country, and support for the Salafist version of ideological Islam is rife. Witnesses said the gunman who emerged from Starbucks began firing at bystanders, reloading his weapon as security forces moved in behind the cover of moving vehicles. He visited the site hours after the attack, walking down the middle of a street in Indonesia’s capital that’s lined with Western brands such as Burger King and Pizza Hut.

The country has been hit by a number of terror attacks in recent years.