Several blasts were heard in the centre of the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Thursday and casualties were seen lying on the ground, an AFP journalist said.
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One blast went off in a Starbucks cafe and security forces were later seen entering the building.
“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. According to the official Jakarta police Twitter account one explosion went off in front of a shopping centre called the Sarinah mall, on a main city avenue. A police post on a main street was damaged after the blasts were heard. Gunfire was ringing out in the area afterwards, an AFP journalist at the scene said.
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At least three casualties were seen lying on the street, according to the AFP journalist. At least one person was reported dead by AP. The Sarinah mall is situated near a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime project office. A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) employee Jeremy Douglas tweeted about the incident, saying “A massive bomb went off in front of our new Indonesia office.”
