Indonesia: IS behind Jakarta attacks

The Indonesian government believes the Islamic State was behind the gun and bomb attack in the capital, Jakarta.

‘‘The gang behind the attack is fighters from IS (Islamic State) that is based in Raqqa,” Jakarta police chief Tito Karnavia said.

Karnavia further claimed that Bahrun Naim, who is believed to be an Indonesian Islamic State fighter, was the mastermind of the attack.

‘‘There is a militant named Bahrun Naim who wants to be the leader of the region. As a way of taking over the leadership, he declared his leadership in the southern Philippines. All leaders (of IS) in Southeast Asia are competing to be the chief. That’s why Bahrun Naim plotted this attack,” Karnavia added.

Indonesia blames Islamic State for attack by suicide bombers and gunmen in Jakarta: https://t.co/TL0mNYK52R pic.twitter.com/sD4uMAGej8

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The attack in Indonesia’s capital on Thursday morning left seven dead including five assailants. Among the five assailants, three were gunned down during a fierce battle with the police while the other two were suicide bombers.

Scores were injured during the gunfire and blast melee. In total, there were five explosions believed to have targeted a shopping mall, a UN building and a police post.

Indonesia President Joko Widodo visited the scene of attack and vowed to catch the perpetrators.

“As a country, we should not be frightened by what happened. We should stay calm because everything is under control,” Widodo said.

The country has been hit by a number of terror attacks in recent years. But this is the first major assault in Jakarta since concurrent attacks in two hotels were carried out in 2009.