At Least 7 Dead in 'Paris-Style' Jakarta Attacks

Attackers set off explosions at a Starbucks cafe in a bustling shopping area in Indonesia's capital and waged gunbattles with police Thursday, leaving bodies in the streets as office workers watched in terror from high-rise buildings. Police said five attackers and two civilians were killed, while 10 people were injured in the brazen attacks, which followed several warnings in recent weeks by police that Islamic militants were planning something big. It was unclear if any perpetrators remained at large. Five hours after the major downtown street in Jakarta—not far from the presidential palace and the US Embassy—turned into a battleground, police declared the area secure.

A national police spokesman said the attack involved an unknown number of assailants with grenades and guns. He said they imitated the recent "terror acts" in Paris and were likely from ISIS, but he gave no evidence. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which prompted a security lockdown in central Jakarta and enhanced checks all over the crowded city of 10 million. "This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people," President Joko Widodo said in a statement on television. "The state, the nation, and the people should not be afraid of, and lose to, such terror acts." (More Joko Widodo stories.)