Indonesia Attacks

Jakarta attacks: at least six dead in series of 'suicide bombings'

• Seven explosions reported in Indonesian capital
• Photographs show several bodies in the street
• Reports of ongoing gun battles in the street
• Unconfirmed reports say 10 to 14 perpetrators involved

More from Iqbal Kabid, a spokesman for Jakarta police:

Indonesian police shot dead four suspected militants who were part of a bomb and gun attack in the capital, Jakarta, on Thursday and the area is being secured, a police spokesman said.

“We are sterilising the building from basement to top,” Iqbal Kabid told reporters, explaining that a gunbattle between the attackers and police took place in a cinema that is in the same building as a Starbucks cafe that was attacked.

“We will declare the situation secure soon,” he said.

It is not clear at this stage if there are any more attackers inside the shopping complex. Earlier reports suggested there could be up to six gunmen in there.

Jakarta police put death toll at seven

Via AP:   Jakarta police spokesman Col. Muhammad Iqbal says seven people including four attackers have been killed in the brazen attacks in the downtown capital.

He says police have recovered the bodies of the attackers, but it is not clear if more remain at large.

At least three explosions rocked downtown Jakarta Thursday midmorning followed by more than two hours of gunbattles.

A witness told The Associated Press that the explosions occurred inside a Starbucks cafe.

Earlier, the national police spokesman Anton Charliyan gave a clashing account, putting the death toll at six, including three policemen and three others.

One of the bodies outside the Sarinah Mall has been removed, and police are continuing to examine others at the scene, Beh Lih Yi reports.

New explosion reported near Starbucks cafe

An Associated Press reporter has heard an explosion from a cafe near the Starbucks that was attacked earlier. The explosion occurred after about 25 anti-terror squad police stormed the cafe.

There is no word on what happened to them, but after the explosion several other police and medical personnel in white overalls were seen running to the cafe.

Two ambulances also drove to the area, and were standing by.

'Gunfire right now'

BBC Indonesia reporter Jerome Wirawan, who is at the scene, said police had cordoned off the area around the Sarinah junction, where at least one of the blasts happened.

National police spokesman told AFP people had been warned to stay indoors in case of further explosions.

A UN official, Jeremy Douglas, told the BBC had been about 150m away from one of the blasts near the UN building.

"Then we ran into the building. We heard a third explosion. We got up to our office on the tenth floor and we heard a fourth, a fifth and a sixth.

"There is gunfire going on in the street right now."

A Reuters photographer said one explosion had been at a Starbucks cafe, with its windows blown out.

He said police appeared to be aiming guns at a man on the roof of the building.