At least 4 dead in Indonesia gun, blast attacks

Gunfire and explosions in the Indonesian capital Jakarta killed at least four people Thursday in what the country's president dubbed "acts of terror", with fears that militants were still on the run.

Witnesses said a powerful blast ripped through a Starbucks cafe in the city centre -- near a cluster of embassies and United Nations offices -- and a nearby police post was badly damaged.

At least one gunman fired repeatedly at bystanders, reloading his weapon as police flooded the streets, they said.

Badly mangled bodies were seen lying on the road as security forces moved in behind the cover of moving vehicles, with regular bursts of gunfire and warnings of a sniper in the area.

"Four people died, one police officer and three civilians," national police spokesman Anton Charliyan told AFP.
"For now the gunfire has stopped but they are still on the run, we are afraid there will be more gunshots."

Officers at the scene told AFP reporters to "get back" because there "is a sniper" on the roof of a building.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, suffered several major bomb attacks by Islamic radicals between 2000 and 2009, including the 2002 strike on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people.

A security crackdown weakened the most dangerous extremist networks, leading to a long lull in large-scale strikes. However, the emergence of Islamic State raised concern that Indonesians returning from Middle East battlefields could stage attacks on home soil.

- 'Loud bang' -
As well as the confirmed deaths, a number of people were feared injured in Thursday's assault, with an eyewitness telling AFP he had seen a "terrorist" repeatedly shooting at bystanders, including a local journalist.

Ruli Koestaman, 32, who had been in a meeting in a nearby building, said the attack started around 10:35am (0335 GMT).

"Then I heard a loud bang, boom. It felt like an earthquake. We all went downstairs," he said.

"We then saw that the Starbucks downstairs was destroyed too. I saw a foreigner -- westerner, a man -- with a mangled hand but alive.

"A Starbucks waiter then ran out with blood coming out of his ear. And I asked anyone hurt inside, he said yes, one. Dead already.

"Then everybody gathered and a terrorist appeared. He had a gun and started shooting at us and then at Starbucks. Then the police post... exploded."

Koestaman said the attacker shot at a reporter who was at the scene.

"Police then started to shoot at the guy, who kept reloading his gun. And then there was another explosion. Then shootings."

The blasts -- at least six, according to eyewitnesses -- were close to a shopping centre, the Sarinah.
Graphic photographs from the scene showed the bloodied bodies of what appeared to be two men in civilian clothes lying by the side of a road next to the wrecked police post.

Another body, also apparently male, dressed in black was pictured lying on his back in the centre of the street while another, almost naked, lay nearby.

- Motorbike -
Police initially said that the explosions were caused by bombs but later said the cause was unclear.

“This is not a suicide bomb. Based on witness account at the police post it was something that was thrown, whether it was a grenade or a bomb we still haven't been able to confirm," Charliyan told Metro TV.

He said at least one attacker, or perhaps two, fled afterwards on a motorbike.

The area is home to a number of embassies, including those of the United States, France and Spain.  A number of United Nations agencies are also housed nearby.

Indonesian 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."

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks.

But they come just weeks after Jakarta was placed on high alert after anti-terror police foiled what they said were plans for an New Year suicide attack in the Indonesian capital.

Late last month police said they had arrested two men, including a member of China's Uighur minority, who they claimed were involved in the plot.

After a series of attacks on foreigners in the last decade, Indonesian extremists have in recent years directed their violence at domestic "enemies of Islam", mostly police.

There have been no attacks against foreigners since the 2009 twin hotel bombings in Jakarta that killed seven people.
Source :AFP