JAKARTA — ​Militants launched a gun and bomb assault in the centre of the Indonesian capital today (Jan 14), police said. Seven people, including five attackers, were killed. Seventeen people, including a Dutch man, were wounded.

Islamic State has officially claimed responsibility for the gun and bomb assault.

"A group of soldiers of the caliphate in Indonesia targeted a gathering from the crusader alliance that fights the Islamic State in Jakarta through planting several explosive devices that went off as four of the soldiers attacked with light weapons and explosive belts," the group said in a statement.

Islamic State's statement said there were 15 people killed but the official tally according to the Indonesian government is seven. A news agency affiliated to Islamic State had earlier reported the group's responsibility.

Jakarta police chief Tito Karnavian had also said earlier that Islamist militant group Islamic State is "definitely" behind the attack. He said Indonesian Islamic State fighter Bahrun Naim, who is believed to be in Syria, was "planning this for awhile. He is behind this attack."  

Indonesian Security Minister Luhut Panjaitan said five attackers and two civillians werre  killed.

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At 4.40pm Thursday (Singapore time), nearly six hours after the morning blasts, Jakarta police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said the attack was over and no more perpertators were at large. "At the moment the situation is under control," he said. 

There have been no reports of Singaporean casualties so far in the Jakarta explosions. 

Following the attacks, security measures in Singapore have been stepped up, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said in a Facebook post. Malaysia has also raised its security alert to the highlest level. Netherlands' foreign ministry has confirmed that a Dutch man has been seriously wounded in the attacks and is undergoing surgery. 

​The blasts, at around 10.30am (Singapore time) were close to a shopping centre, the Sarinah, where victims' bodies were seen strewn on the ground. One blast was in a Starbucks cafe and security forces were later seen entering the building. A gun-battle broke out between the attackers and anti-terror police squads. About two hours later, another explosion was heard from a cafe near the Starbucks, about five minutes after 25 anti-terror policemen entered it. It was not clear if the explosion was a controlled detonation or a bomb.  

There were unconfirmed media reports of explosions in other parts of Jakarta.

At 8.55pm Indonesia time (9.55pm Singapore time), a truck’s tyre bursting near the area of the terror attacks was mistaken by passers-by as an “explosion”, sending people scrambling. Mr Hendro Pandowo, District chief of police, Central Jakarta, later confirmed that it was not a bomb but the tyre of a truck that burst.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who is on a working visit in West Java town of Cirebon, has ordered security forces to hunt down the perpetrators and their network behind the attacks in Jakarta.

"Our nation and our people should not be afraid, we will not be defeated by these acts of terror, I hope the public stay calm," he said on TV station 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."

It was the first major violence in Indonesia's capital since the 2009 bombings of two hotels that killed seven people and injured more than 50. Before that, a bombing in a nightclub on the resort island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. 

Three attackers were killed in a shootout with police, while two others were suicide bombers, Deputy National Police Chief Budi Gunawan told reporters. He added that two civilians are also confirmed as having died. Of the two civilians, one was a foreigner, Mr Gunawan said. Indonesian police said they also arrested four suspected militants.

Jakarta police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal added that five police personnel, one foreign civilian and four Indonesian civilians were injured, he said

Starbucks said  one customer sustained injuries and was treated on the scene while all employees are confirmed to be safe. 

Media reported that a Dutch person and another foreigner were among the casualties but it was not clear if they were dead or wounded. 

There were at least six explosions this morning and a police post was damaged. "This is a bomb," National police spokesman Anton Charliyan told AFP.  

Earlier in the day, helicopters were circling the area, which had been cordoned off. Officers at the scene had told AFP reporters to "get back" because there "is a sniper" on the roof of a building. Heavily armed police evacuated a badly injured man who was lying on the road bleeding heavily.

"The Starbucks cafe windows are blown out. I see three dead people on the road," said a Reuters photographer.

Mr Charliyan said that the Islamic State had issued a cryptic warning before the attacks.

Eyewitness Tri Seranto, a bank security guard, told The Associated Press he saw at least five attackers, including three who triggered explosions at the Starbucks. It was not immediately clear if they exploded bombs or grenades. Mr Tri described them as suicide bombers but General Anton Charilyan denied they blew themselves up. 

He said the attack involved an unknown number of assailants with grenades and guns, at least one on a motorcycle.
 
Mr Tri said he was out on the street when he saw the three men entering Starbucks. He said the other two attackers, carrying handguns, entered a police post from where he heard gunfire. 

"I saw a police officer shot right in front of me," one witness told TV One. Shots were fired outside a cafe as police moved in, an AFP journalist at the scene said. "For now the gunfire has stopped but they are still on the run, we are afraid there will be more gunshots," Mr Charliyan said.

An AFP reporter said the remains of some of the three were smoking after the blast and remained untouched at the scene, next to a destroyed police post.

ATTACKS WERE IN BUSY AREA

The shooting happened outside a Starbucks opposite the shopping centre, which is in an area that also has many luxury hotels, embassies and offices. Thamrin Street is a major thoroughfare in central Jakarta. The Istana Negara presidential palace is about 2km up the road.
 
Some of the explosions happened across from Sarinah department store, one of the first department stores in Jakarta. In the same shopping plaza is a McDonalds and other Western-style restaurants. The shopping centre is popular among Indonesians and foreigners alike. 
 
The Starbucks, across the street and on a corner, is in front of Jakarta Theater, a Pizza Hut and an office building. The Pan-Pacific Hotel is also on the same block. Across the street is the United Nations office, and not much further up the block are government offices.

Following the attacks, the UN building near the scene was in lock-down with no one allowed in or out, a witness said. Some other high-rise buildings in the area were evacuated. Indonesia's central bank is located in the same area, and a spokesman for the bank said a policy meeting was going ahead and a decision on interest rates would be announced as planned later in the day.

HIGH ALERT

The country has been on high alert after authorities said they had foiled a plot by Islamic militants to attack government officials, foreigners and others. About 150,000 police officers and soldiers were deployed during New Year's Eve to guard churches, airports and other public places.

More than 9,000 police were also deployed in Bali, the site of Indonesia's deadliest terror attack, which killed 202 people in 2002.

National Police spokesman Major General Anton Charliyan said security is focused on anticipating attacks in vulnerable regions, including Jakarta.

Indonesia has been a victim of several bombing attacks in the past, claimed by Islamic militant groups.

On Tuesday, the jailed radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir appealed to an Indonesia court to have his conviction for funding a terror training camp overturned, arguing that his support for the camp was an act of worship.

The 77-year-old leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant network filed a judicial review of his 2011 conviction, when he was sentenced to 15 years in jail for setting up the camp in Aceh province. A higher court later cut the sentence to nine years. AGENCIES