Islamic State Claims Jakarta Terror Attack

Five of the seven people who were killed in the daylight assault Thursday were among the attackers, according to Indonesian officials.

Jakarta Police chief Tito Karnavian said Indonesian national Bahrun Naim, now thought to be in Syria, had been “planning this for a while”.

The discovery of the flag bolsters authorities’ claim that the attack Thursday was carried out by the Islamic State group, which controls territory in Syria and Iraq and whose ambition to create an Islamic caliphate has attracted 30,000 foreign fighters from around the world, including a few hundred Indonesians and Malaysians.

DARREN WHITESIDE/REUTERS Witnesses said that three men blew themselves up at a Starbucks cafe in an area near the city’s United Nations building, though gunfire and other attacks were also reported.

Both the Indonesian government and the White House are calling it a terrorist attack, which involved a string of explosions that also left 23 people injured, five of whom were police personnel.

Citing unidentified police sources, Reuters and Metro TV News, a news outlet in Indonesia, reported a Canadian man had been killed in the attacks, which have been linked to the Islamic State group.

The last major militant attacks in Jakarta were in July 2009, with bombs at the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels. “I’m sitting in a mall right now and there doesn’t seem to be any panic, however, the security has been beefed up a little”.

Supporters of the Islamic State circulated a claim of responsibility on social media resembling the militants’ previous messages.

One of the most risky militant groups in Indonesia is Jemaah Islamiyah, which was believed to have masterminded the Bali bombings and the 2004 truck bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta that killed 11.

Police found this arsenal in a rucksack carried by one of the attackers.

The siege in Jakarta left at least seven people dead and scores injured.

It sparked huge police operations around New Year’s Eve and deputy police chief Budi Gunawan said tight security during celebrations may have forced terrorists to move the attack to today.

He said they imitated the recent “terror acts” in Paris and were likely from the Islamic State group, but gave no evidence.

Indonesia President Joko Widodo visited the scene of attack and vowed to catch the perpetrators.

“The hearts of Canada and Canadians go out to the people of Indonesia and all the families and victims of these bad attacks”, Mr. Trudeau said at an appearance in Kitchener, Ont.

He was in a nearby building when the series of terror attacks in Jakarta, Indonesia, began yesterday morning.