Militants launched a gun and bomb assault killing at least six people in the centre of the Indonesian capital on Thursday, police said, in an attack that followed a threat by Daish fighters to put the country in their "spotlight".
Media said six bombs went off and a Reuters witness saw three dead people and a gunfight going on. One blast was in a Starbucks cafe and security forces were later seen entering the building.
Police said they suspected a suicide bomber was responsible for at least one of the blasts and up to 14 militant gunmen were involved in the attack, Metro TV reported.
"The Starbucks cafe windows are blown out. I see three dead people on the road. There has been a lull in the shooting but someone is on the roof of the building and police are aiming their guns at him," said a Reuters photographer.
Indonesia has been on edge in recent weeks over the threat posed by Islamist militants and counter-terrorism police have launched a crackdown on people with suspected links to Daish.
"We have previously received a threat from Daish that Indonesia will be the spotlight," police spokesman Anton Charliyan told reporters. But he said police did not know who was responsible.
He said three policemen and three civilians had been killed.
"I saw a police officer shot right in front of me," one witness told TV One.
One explosion went off in front of a shopping centre called the Sarinah mall, on a main avenue. Media said a police post outside the mall was blown up.
Police snipers were deployed among hundreds of other security officers.
A U.N. 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.
An explosion was heard in the western suburb of Palmerah, according to a domestic media tweet, but police said they could not confirm a blast there.
Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population, the vast majority of whom practise a moderate form of the religion.
The country saw a spate of militant attacks in the 2000s, the deadliest of which was a nightclub bombing on the holiday island of Bali that killed 202 people, most of them tourists.
Police have been largely successful in destroying domestic militant cells since then, but officials have more recently been worrying about a resurgence inspired by groups such as Daish and Indonesians who return after fighting with the group.
The last major militant attacks in Jakarta were in July 2009, with bombs at the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels.
Reuters
Thu Jan 14 2016
Police officers react near the site of a blast in Jakarta, Indonesia, January 14, 2016. - REUTERS
Kerajaan Persekutuan lulus peruntukan beli pam baharu untuk petani, pesawah di Kelantan
Kerajaan Persekutuan meluluskan sejumlah peruntukan untuk membeli pam-pam baharu bagi kegunaan para petani dan pesawah di Kelantan.
Permohonan tajaan MARA dibuka 7 Mei - Asyraf Wajdi
Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) akan membuka permohonan bagi penajaan pengajian peringkat Ijazah Sarjana (Sarjana) dan Ijazah Kedoktoran (PhD) di dalam dan di luar negara pada Selasa ini (7 Mei).
Beri ruang dan masa untuk Speedy Tigers berwajah baharu - Sarjit
Sarjit menyeru rakyat Malaysia untuk memberi masa dan ruang kepada Speedy Tigers berwajah baharu untuk berkembang menjadi pasukan yang kuat menjelang edisi ke-30 Piala Sultan Azlan Shah.
Akhyar cedera dipercayai disamun
Akhyar Rashid cedera di kepala selepas dipukul dan menjadi mangsa samun, malam tadi.
Proton sasar tambah baik kualiti pengeluaran bagi tingkatkan keyakinan pelanggan
Proton akan menambah baik kualiti pengeluaran mereka menerusi pengurangan peratusan markah Audit Produk Pelanggan Global (GCPA).
PAC2024 : Lenggong lokasi pertama, tawar produk pelancongan menarik
Lenggong dipilih menjadi lokasi pertama penganjuran PAC 2024 dalam usaha memperkenalkan produk sedia ada di Lenggong Geopark yang bakal diangkat sebagai UNESCO Global Geopark.
SUKMA: Sarawak mahu guna kelebihan sebagai tuan rumah untuk muncul juara
Sarawak mahu menggunakan kelebihan sebagai tuan rumah Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA) tahun ini untuk muncul sebagai juara temasya sukan dwi-tahunan itu.
Guna mesin layan diri IPR, pendapatan suami isteri lonjak lima kali ganda
Sepasang suami isteri tidak menyangka maklumat yang diperoleh daripada Facebook mengenai IPR membantu mereka meraih pendapatan hampir lima kali ganda.
Mahkamah tolak saman pegawai khas AG terhadap Rewcastle-Brown
Mahkamah Tinggi menolak saman fitnah yang difailkan oleh iaitu Mabel Sheela Mutthiah terhadap Editor Sarawak Report Clare Rewcastle-Brown.
Suspek abai penumpang ketika kapal terbakar dihukum penjara
Penantian lima tahun buat keluarga mangsa bot penyelam Conception untuk melihat suspek yang bertanggungjawab mengabai serta menyebabkan kematian 34 penumpang berakhir dengan keadilan buat mereka.
Kapten Jerry Boylan, 70 tahun dihukum penjara 10 tahun selepas terjun ke laut bagi menyelamatkan diri sendiri bersama empat anak kapal lain dalam kejadian kebakaran ngeri yang berlaku pada jam 2 pagi di Pelabuhan Platt berhampiran Pulau Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara.
Kapten Jerry Boylan, 70 tahun dihukum penjara 10 tahun selepas terjun ke laut bagi menyelamatkan diri sendiri bersama empat anak kapal lain dalam kejadian kebakaran ngeri yang berlaku pada jam 2 pagi di Pelabuhan Platt berhampiran Pulau Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara.