Indonesian capital Jakarta was under siege as militants launched a coordinated bomb and gun assault killing 7 people. The attack was described by the police as a copycat Paris terror attack.
Footage showed two suicide bombers blow themselves up outside the cafe, and a militant was also believed to have been captured on film exchanging gunfire with police.
There were several large explosions across the city during the three-hour siege – with reports suicide bombers targeted multiple locations, including a Starbucks cafe at a busy shopping centre, near the presidential palace.
Other blasts were reportedly heard in the Cikini, Silpi and Kuningan neighbourhoods, near the Pakistan and Turkish embassies.
A gun battle with attackers also took place inside a cinema at the retail complex.
A United Nations building close to the scene was in lockdown, and other high-rise buildings in the area have been evacuated.
Police said the attackers aimed to “imitate the terror attacks in Paris”, and Islamic State fighters were “definitely” responsible.
Aamaaq, a news agency allied to the terror group, claimed IS carried out the attacks “targeting foreign nationals and the security forces charged with protecting them in the Indonesian capital.”
It emerged IS had issued a cryptic warning in November last year, saying, “there will be a concert in Indonesia and it will be international news”.
Credit: Punch
Bodies could be seen in the streets, as office workers watched the horror unfold.
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