Six Dead As Militants Attack Indonesian Capital

A security guard says he saw five attackers, three of them suicide bombers who blew themselves up inside a Starbucks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video: Bombs And Shots At Shopping Mall

Militants have launched an assault on the Indonesian capital Jakarta, killing six people in a series of bomb blasts and gunfire, police have said.

Six bombs are believed to have gone off and a witness told the Reuters news agency they had seen three bodies and ongoing gunfight.
A security guard at a bank said he saw at least five attackers, three of them suicide bombers who entered a Starbucks and blew themselves up one by one.
Security forces were later seen entering the building, and gunfire could be heard more than an hour after the explosions.
Tri Seranto said the two other attackers, who were carrying handguns, entered a police post from where he heard gunfire.

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   Gallery: Attackers Target Jakarta Mall

He said they later ran away as police chased them.

Police spokesman Anton Charliyan said three policemen and three civilians had been killed, adding they do not know who is responsible.

A Reuters photographer said: "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."

An Associated Press reporter has seen at least one dead body, while a reporter for the AFP news agency reported the bombs had left at least three people dead.

Police said they suspect a suicide bomber is responsible for at least one of the explosions and up to 14 gunmen were involved in the attack, Metro TV reported.

The site of the blasts is close to the Sarinah shopping mall and a police station, and the area also has luxury hotels and offices and embassies.

A United Nations building close to the scene was in lockdown, and other high rise buildings in the area have been evacuated.

Shortly after news of the explosions emerged, Indonesian network TVOne reported that at least three more explosions had taken place.

The station said the blasts occurred in the Cikni, Silpi and Kuningan neighbourhoods, close to the Turkish and Pakistani embassies.