ICC NOTE: Suspected terrorists linked to the Islamic State set off a serious of explosions in an Indonesian shopping center killing at least seven and injuring 10. News is still funneling in from the Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, as it is an ongoing investigation. It is the largest terror attack to occur in Indonesia since the 2009 bombing of two hotels which led to the deaths of seven and more than 50 injured. Indonesian President Joko Widodo was quoted in saying, ” This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people.” According to police officials the attack was similar in fashion to the Paris attacks prompting the suspected link with the Islamic State. Please pray for Indonesia as no one should have to face the threat of terror or the loss of loved ones.
1/14/2016 Jakarta, Indonesia (Fox News) – Attackers set off a series of explosions in a bustling shopping area of Indonesia’s capital city Thursday morning in what authorities said was an imitation of last November’s terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.
At least seven people had been killed in the five-hour attack, including five gunman, and 10 others were injured, Jakarta police said. It was unclear whether any other assailants remained at large.
Jakarta police spokesman Col. Muhammad Iqbal said two of the attackers were killed by police, but did not specify how the others had died.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the violence, but Indonesian national police spokesman Gen. Anton Charliyan said the attackers were likely linked to the ISIS terror group, saying, “They imitated the terror actions in Paris.”
Charliyan said the two dead civilians were a Dutch citizen and an Indonesian, while an Algerian man was among the 10 injured.
But there was some confusion about the Dutch citizen’s status. A Dutch Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in the Netherlands said the man was seriously injured and was undergoing surgery.
Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said said the attack showed that “terrorism can hit everybody. Whether you are shopping in the heart of Paris, in a New York office or on vacation in Jakarta.”
Police had repeatedly warned in recent weeks that Islamic militants were planning something big in Jakarta, a city of 10 million people. It was the first major terror attack in Indonesia 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.
“This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people,” President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, said in statement on television. Jokowi, who is on a working visit in West Java town of Cirebon, said he is returning to Jakarta immediately.
