Several attackers set off a series of explosions that targeted downtown Jakarta on Thursday and exchanged gunfire with Indonesian authorities, leaving at least seven people, including five assailants, dead.
Updated: The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack on its website.
The blasts focused on the Sarinah shopping center in the Indonesian capital with at least one explosion at a Starbucks cafe. Initial images of the aftermath showed bodies in the streets, as police arrived at the cafe, engaging the suspects in a shootout. More explosions soon followed.
Hours after the first blast, police said five suspects and two civilians were killed and 10 more people were injured. A Dutch man was among the dead, Indonesia’s security minister Luhut Panjaitan said. Indonesian President Joko Widodo appeared on national TV to say the situation was “under control” and to call for calm.
“This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people,” he said. “The state, the nation and the people should not be afraid of, and lose to, such terror acts.”
It’s unclear whether the attackers detonated bombs or grenades.
SUMMARY: Multiple gunmen and suicide bombers struck the center of Jakarta, targeting a police booth as well as a nearby Starbucks. Two civilians were killed and five attackers died. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility. Chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner reports, and Judy Woodruff explores ISIS's expansion into Southeast Asia with Joby Warrick of The Washington Post.
MARGARET WARNER (Newshour): It was a major turnaround for the United States. At a summit of Southeast Asian nations in Bali, Indonesia, President Obama today announced he's sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Myanmar.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: After years of darkness, we have seen flickers of progress in these last several weeks. We want to seize what could be an historic opportunity for progress, and make it clear that if Burma continues to travel down the road of democratic reform, it can forge a new relationship with the United States of America.
MARGARET WARNER: For years, the isolated Myanmar, previously known as Burma, has been subject to U.S. and Western sanctions for its repression of political opponents, ethnic minorities, and even Buddhist monks.
The news that now, for the first time in more than 50 years, a U.S. secretary of state will visit was welcomed by Soe Aung of the Forum for Democracy in Burma.
SOE AUNG, forum for democracy in Burma: I think it is an opportunity for the U.S. to ensure that the release of the political prisoners, as well as the ending attacks in ethnic areas in north and eastern Burma, as well as inclusive dialogue towards -- to bring about the national reconciliation in the country. Do not forget about that these ongoing human rights violations are taking place many areas in Burma.
MARGARET WARNER: Myanmar is strategically located between Asia's two rising powers, India and China. Both are major trading partners.
But Myanmar angered the Chinese recently by canceling a Chinese dam project near their common border. The president's announcement coincided with another groundbreaking decision, this one in Myanmar.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was in prison and under house arrest for 15 years, said she and her opposition party, the National League for Democracy, will take part in parliamentary elections next year. Her party boycotted last November's election, but she was freed from house arrest just days later.
And in March, Myanmar's generals handed power to a quasi-civilian government led by a retired general, Thein Sein. He has made some reform moves, including easing media censorship and freeing some political prisoners. Secretary Clinton is expected to arrive in Myanmar two weeks from now.
I am Retired U.S. Navy (22yrs) and a Vietnam Veteran. After my Navy retirement I was in the computer related industry, now retired. In 2000 I was a registered Republican and voted for George W. Bush. Six months of having Bush in the Whitehouse forced me to re-evaluate my political stance. I had always thought of myself as a Moderate Republican, but was a Republican by "default" NOT because of close examination of the GOP. Due to what has happened in America since 2000, I now consider myself a progressive, and registered as a Non-Affiliated voter.
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