JAKARTA, Jan 14 – At least six people were killed after armed men carried out a series of apparently coordinated gun and bomb attacks in the heart of the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. Four attackers were also killed, police said. A manhunt for more suspects is underway. There have so far been no claims of responsibility, but one analyst likened the timed attacks to the Paris massacre where ISIS struck several locations at the same time.
Among the victims was one police officer and a foreign national, CNN Indonesia reported. Budi Gunawan, deputy chief of Indonesian National Police, told reporters that 10 others, including another foreigner, were injured. Security Advisor, Netherlands Embassy Jakarta, Angele Samura told CNN that a Dutch national has been severely injured and is now undergoing surgery at a hospital in Jakarta.
The blasts took place Thursday morning on Thamrin steet, an entertainment and shopping district with various Western chains. It was the first major attack in Jakarta since the 2009 simultaneous attacks on the J.W. Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels, which killed seven. With the operation still going on, several things were unclear: Exactly how many gunmen were involved, and how many locations they struck.
