Jakarta attack said to mirror Paris

Indonesian TV reported Friday that police arrested three men on suspicion of links to Thursday’s attack in Jakarta, NBC News reported.

Boniviano told News5 in an interview that he ran down from the building’s 10th floor, where he worked, when what authorities have confirmed were suicide bombs began exploding in the street outside.

Seven people died in Thursday’s attack, which also left more than 20 people injured.

But authorities in the world’s most populous Muslim country have already placed blame for the attack on Katibah Nusantara, which police and terrorism analysts say is a faction of the ruthless Islamic State group that has carved out a self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

Police suspect the mastermind is Indonesian IS recruit Bahrun Naim, an ex-prisoner from central Java believed to be in Raqqa, Syria.

He said the operations were funded through Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian who was arrested in 2011 and spent one year in jail for illegal possession of weapons before going to Syria to fight alongside the group.

Police initially said there were five attackers, all killed.

“Indonesia loves peace”: Couple at #JakartaBlasts memorial says Indonesians have to show courage and that they can co-exist peacefully as a community, so as not to embolden terrorists.

“His vision is to unite all ISIS supporting elements in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines”, Jakarta police chief Tito Karnavian said, using another acronym for IS.

Heavily armed police soon swarmed the scene, firing on the militants and looking for other attackers.

The country has been on high alert after Islamic State warned a “concert in Indonesia” would make global news, the BBC reports.

Police are yet to release the names of those identified or other details, but said two of the dead militants were fugitive terrorism suspects.

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 jihadis in the French capital.

They may not be an ‘existential threat, ‘ but attacks like the ones that hit Indonesia have been changing how we live.

Anti-terror units launched raids Friday seeking suspected Islamic State backers and possible support networks, said a police statement.

Expressing their deep sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and government of Indonesia, the members of the Security Council paid tribute to the courage of the Indonesian security forces. Police have been largely successful in destroying domestic militant cells since the Bali bombings of 2002 and 2005.

“Stupid terrorists! Where did you get the idea that you can go to heaven by killing the innocents and then commit suicide, which is banned in Islam?” said one message.

“He has a website which celebrates Isis and its successes, and more specifically, he celebrated the Paris attacks”.