14 January 2016•Update: 15 January 2016
JAKARTA
Indonesian police have confirmed that seven people died after multiple explosions -- one a suicide bomb -- rocked a popular shopping center in the capital Jakarta on Thursday.
Police told reporters that five Daesh-linked attackers were among those who died in the attacks which started around 10.30 a.m. (03.30 GMT), and included a shootout in a mall.
The attack was declared over shortly after 3 p.m. local time (08.00 GMT).
“We believe there are no more attackers around Sarinah [mall]. We have taken control,”
local police spokesman Col. Muhammad Iqbal.
An Anadolu Agency photograph taken at the scene showed bodies strewn across a major freeway while armed police stood by.
Newly appointed chief of the Presidential Office Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan told a press conference "the dead citizens consist of one Indonesian citizen and one foreign citizen."
"There were five terrorists, three of whom have been shot. One conducted a suicide bombing in Starbucks [coffee shop] and one killed himself in front of Starbucks," he added.
Witnesses have said that the initial explosion was followed by at least five more blasts which left the ground and building shaking.
Attackers are reported to have attacked the coffee shop in front of the mall and a police post. A shootout then broke out between the attackers and anti-terror police squads.
Anton Charliyan, National Police spokesperson, said that police later found three intact homemade bombs, a gun, a knife, and duct tape at the scene.
Before the blasts occurred, Daesh had issued warning that there would be "a concert" – a term for terror acts – in Indonesia, he said.
In a late afternoon press conference, Jakarta Police chief Tito Karnavian confirmed that the attackers had links with Daesh -- a claim backed up in an afternoon tweet from the Daesh-linked Amaq News Agency.
"The attackers are part of the ISIS [Daesh] network," said Karnavian, adding that the attack was carried out with the aim of building Daesh's presence in Southeast Asia.
"The two dead civilians are Indonesian and Canadian," he said.
Later Thursday, President Joko Widodo urged people to remain calm.
“Our nation and our people should not be afraid, we will not be defeated by these acts of terror,” he said, in comments broadcast by MetroTV.
“We all are grieving for the fallen victims of this incident, but we also condemn the act that has disturbed the security and peace and spread terror among our people.”
The U.S. State Department "strongly" condemned the attack, extending condolences to the victims' families.
"We stand firmly with the Indonesian people against terrorism and extremist ideologies that give rise to terrorist violence," spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
Indonesia has witnessed a number of violent acts by extremist groups, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.
On Wednesday, it was reported to have deployed 2,000 security personnel to the mountainous forests of Sulawesi island in the latest operation aimed at capturing the country’s most-wanted man who has claimed links to Daesh.
The archipelago has been on alert against such groups, and more than 20 people suspected of having such links were arrested across Indonesia’s islands in late December.
Of them, 11 were placed in custody on Java island for allegedly plotting a Christmas Eve attack in Jakarta.
