Explosions and gunfire rocked the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Thursday in what authorities said was an audacious terrorist attack carried out by the Islamic State militants.
Jihadists immediately claimed responsibility.
Police said at least seven people were killed, including five terror suspects, according to early reports by
The New York Times. Indonesian National Police spokesman Gen. Anton Charliyan said authorities received information in November about an Islamic State warning that "there will be a concert," meaning attack, in Indonesia.
Twenty people were hurt in the attacks, according to Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo, the head of the Indonesian armed forces, and Pramono Anung, President Joko Widodo's cabinet secretary.
Reuters reported that two suspects were taken into custody alive and that a police officer and a Canadian man were killed, while a Dutch man was among the wounded.
Jakarta's police chief told reporters that: "ISIS is behind this attack definitely," and named Indonesian militant Bahrun Naim as the person responsible for plotting the attack,
Charliyan said the suspected terrorists used grenades and guns in the attacks while one was riding a motorcycle, noted the Times.
Al Jazeera said the attacks appeared to the coordinated and concentrated in central Jakarta. Local police reported six blasts happening about 50 meters apart in the central business district.
Jeremy Douglas, a regional representative of the United Nations' office on Drugs and Crime for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, posted Twitter messages about the attacks. The U.N. offices are located in central Jakarta.