The head of public relations for the Jakarta Police, Commissioner Mohammad Iqbal, said that the number of people injured or killed during deadly attacks around Sarinah, Central Jakarta, totalled at least 17, including casualties among the perpetrators and victims.
Of those 17, Iqbal said five were perpetrators of the attack including three believed to be suicide bombers and two who were overpowered by the police at the area’s Starbucks and Djakarta Theater. “Of the five actors, three were suspected suicide bombers. The rest were shot by police,” Iqbal told reporters.
Although police say the area has been secured, authorities remain on high alert and are investigating the scenes of destruction. Police have formed a special team to hunt down other alleged perpetrators who managed to escape from the site.
One blast was in a Starbucks cafe and security forces were later seen entering the building.
“The Starbucks cafe windows are blown out. I see three dead people on the road. There has been a lull in the shooting but someone is on the roof of the building and police are aiming their guns at him,” said a news agency photographer.
Police suspected a suicide bomber was responsible for at least one of the blasts and up to 14 militant gunmen were involved in the attack, Metro TV reported.
Police snipers were deployed among hundreds of other security officers, some in armored vehicles. A bomb disposal unit was seen entering the building where the Starbucks is located, which also houses a cinema.
An office worker in a building above the Starbucks cafe, who declined to be identified, said he and fellow workers had been ordered to stay put after the first blast.
“That’s when I heard the second explosion. It was loud and powerful,” he said.
Indonesia has been on edge for weeks over the threat posed by Islamist militants and counter-terrorism police have launched a crackdown on people with suspected links to Islamic State.
“We have previously received a threat from Islamic State that Indonesia will be the spotlight,” police spokesman Anton Charliyan said.
He said three policemen and three civilians had been killed.
Media reported that a Dutch person and another foreigner were among the casualties but it was not clear if they were dead or wounded.
Police said four suspected attackers were killed.
The last major militant attacks in Jakarta were in July 2009, with bombs at the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels.
Most of the victims were rushed and admitted to the Jakarta Police Hospital and Gatot Subroto Military Hospital.
