By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania
JAKARTA, Indonesia — At least six people are reported dead in a suspected series of bombings and gunfire outside the Sarinah department store on Jalan M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta on Thursday. Islamic State (“IS”) said it was behind the attack, the first time the radical group has targeted the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
Security forces battled militants for hours in a major business and shopping district.
The mayhem began with a suicide blast at a Starbucks while gunmen outside opened fire, killing a Canadian man, said Jakarta’s police chief, Maj. Gen. Tito Karnavian. Moments later, two suicide bombers struck a traffic police post, killing themselves and an Indonesian man.
Security forces later put the streets on lock-down, including areas near the U.S. and French embassies and other diplomatic sites. At the Starbucks, six hand-crafted explosive devices were found stashed.
“So we think … their plan was to attack people and follow it up with a larger explosion when more people gathered,” said Charilyan. “But thank God it didn’t happen.”
IS released a statement online claiming the attacks, which it said were carried out by soldiers of the Caliphate, targeting citizens of the Crusader coalition against the group. “A group of soldiers of the caliphate in Indonesia targeted a gathering from the crusader alliance that fights the Islamic State in Jakarta,” the group said in a statement.
Several explosive devices were planted, while four militants attacked with guns and explosive belts, the jihadist group said in a statement. According to IS, 15 people were killed in the attack, a claim that contradicts the Indonesian government’s official death toll of seven people.
Mr. Karnavian also blamed the terrorist group and singled out a militant named Bahrun Naim, who he said plotted the attack to assert himself among various figures competing to lead ISIS in Southeast Asia.
The Jakarta carnage, in an area frequented by foreigners, came 6,000 miles from and two days after ISIS boasted about a suicide bombing in the heart of Istanbul. CNN security analyst Bob Baer likened the Jakarta attack to the November 13 Paris massacre, in which terrorists linked to ISIS struck several locations at the same time.
A spokesman for Indonesia’s national police, Maj. Gen. Anton Charilyan, issued a statement concerning the assailant’s plans. “So we think … their plan was to attack people and follow it up with a larger explosion when more people gathered,” said Charilyan.
“But thank God it didn’t happen.”
For more information, please see:
BBC News – Jakarta attacks: Islamic State says it was responsible – 14 January 2016
CNN – Jakarta attacks: Deadly blasts, shootout hit Indonesian capital – 14 January 2016
Reuters – Islamic State claims Jakarta attack, targets Indonesia for first time – 14 January 2016
Russia Today – Suspected ISIS attacks in Jakarta – 14 January 2016
NY Times – Jakarta Attack Kills at Least 2, Indonesian Officials Say – 14 January 2016
