JAKARTA, Indonesia — At least three suicide bombers exploded themselves in a Starbucks cafe in downtown Jakarta on Thursday while two gunmen attacked a police post nearby, a witness told The Associated Press.
TVOne, a local television network, reported three other explosions in other parts of the city.
At least one policeman was killed in addition to the bombers. An Associated Press photographer saw three bodies behind police lines, lying on a sidewalk. Their identities were unclear.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but suspicion is likely to fall on militant groups, which have carried out several attacks in the past across Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
It would be the first major attack in the capital Jakarta since the bombings of two hotels in 2009.
"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.
"The state, the nation and the people should not be afraid of, and lose to, such terror acts," he said.
The first explosion apparently triggered a gun-battle between the attackers and anti-terror police squads, and gunfire could be heard more than 1 ½ hours later.
Tri Seranto, a bank security guard, told The Associated Press he saw at least five attackers, including three suicide bombers who exploded themselves in the Starbucks.
He said he was out on the street when he saw the three men entering Starbucks and saw them blowing themselves up one by one. He said the other two attackers, carrying handguns, entered a police post from where he heard gunfire. He said he later saw one policeman dead and three seriously wounded.
He said he was not injured in the explosions as he was a little distance away, but close enough to witness the attack at 10.30 a.m. (0230 GMT).
He said the two gunmen ran away with police chasing them.
About two hours later, another explosion was heard from a cafe near the Starbucks, about five minutes after 25 anti-terror policemen entered it. It was not clear if the explosion was a controlled detonation or a bomb.
Gunshots were heard after the midmorning explosion in front of the Sarinah shopping mall and a police station. The area also has many luxury hotels, and offices and embassies, including the French. The other set of explosions were in neighborhoods where the embassies of Turkey and Pakistan are located.
Tweets from the account of Jeremy Douglas, regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, described a bomb and "serious" exchanges of gunfire on the street outside his Jakarta office. "Didn't experience this in 3.5 years in #Pakistan," he wrote.
"A massive #bomb went off in front of our new #Indonesia office as @collie_brown & I exit car. Chaos & we're going into lock-down," he wrote. And three minutes later: "Apparent #suicidebomber literally 100m from the office and my hotel. Now gunfire."
About 30 minutes after his first post about the bombing, he posted that things were "quiet. Not comfortable quiet." — AP
