Blasts, gunfight rock Indonesian capital Jakarta

[Alien]

Blasts, gunfight rock Indonesian capital Jakarta

JAKARTA: Several explosions went off and gunfire broke out in the centre of the Indonesian capital on Thursday and police said they suspected a suicide bomber was responsible for at least one the blasts.

Media said six bombs went of and a Reuters witness saw three dead people and a gunfight going on. 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.

Indonesia has been a victim of several bombing attacks in the past, claimed by Islamic militant groups.

The country has been on high alert after authorities said they had foiled a plot by Islamic militants to attack government officials, foreigners and others. About 150,000 police officers and soldiers were deployed during New Year's Eve to guard churches, airports and other public places.

Jakarta mall under attack with gunmen after 6 bombs targeted western chains like Starbucks and police station. pic.twitter.com/Hq0nnBQQ0M

— Jeff Gauvin (@JeffersonObama) January 14, 2016More than 9,000 police were also deployed in Bali, the site of Indonesia's deadliest terror attack, which killed 202 people in 2002.
National Police spokesman Maj Gen Anton Charliyan said security is focused on anticipating attacks in vulnerable regions, including Jakarta.

On Tuesday, the jailed radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir appealed to an Indonesia court to have his conviction for funding a terror training camp overturned, arguing that his support for the camp was an act of worship.
The 77-year-old leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant network filed a judicial review of his 2011 conviction, when he was sentenced to 15 years in jail for setting up the camp in Aceh province. A higher court later cut the sentence to nine years.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...sian-capital-Jakarta/articleshow/50572012.cms

 

[Alien]

It appears that, ISIS tentacles are expanding all over globe!

 

[Rowdy]

..............................................................................

 

[Screambowl]

are they even capable to tackle trained militants??

 

[Navneet Kundu]

are they even capable to tackle trained militants??

IDK how good their capabilities are, but their counter terrorism units are trained by Indian special forces.

Link : http://articles.economictimes.india...386645_1_indian-army-special-forces-exercises

 

[Screambowl]

IDK how good their capabilities are, but their counter terrorism units are trained by Indian special forces.

Link : http://articles.economictimes.india...386645_1_indian-army-special-forces-exercises

but they have deployed police. Is their counter terror unit is under police or army?

 

[Navneet Kundu]

but they have deployed police. Is their counter terror unit is under police or army?

In that case, it is their bureaucratic decision to deploy civilian defense assets instead of military units. Our counter-terrorism co-operation has a much broader scope with full-scale counter-insurgency, jungle warfare, guerrilla warfare training. Whether it includes urban CT, I am not sure.

Anyway, there's no perfect way to deal with such urban attacks. Yes, we can mitigate it after it has occurred but in an urban context, the fact that someone succeeded in striking you itself is a lapse. The target of the attack is not to kill people but the multi-faceted effects will be felt for years. There's a nice talk about it here (I highly recommend it. It really opened my eyes) :

 

[Bornubus]

Their new generation getting Arabised rapidly, shunning their native Indonasian past even names which are in corrupt Sanskrit and taking stupid Arab names.

Wahabi money also find its way along with the ideology.

 

[Screambowl]

looks like there may be hostage situation? any link to live news?

If the terrorists are trained like the ones in pathankot, mumbai , mehran then it will take them time to sanitize the area.

I saw in the news their police team was not able to break the staircase door..

 

[Alien]

looks like there may be hostage situation? any link to live news?

Live coverage: http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-asia-35309116

 

[Navneet Kundu]

Their new generation getting Arabised rapidly

Very true. I used to have an online pen pal 5 years ago. He was a typical good guy (educated, well spoken, morally sane) so I assumed he was a non-muslim. I viewed Indonesia through his facebook photos. It looked (and still does) like a vibrant economy and a stable democracy. If someone had told me back then that Indonesia was a muslim nation I wouldn't have believed it. It's only a couple of years ago that I realized that it was a muslim nation when I did a google search out of curiosity. It doesn't conform to our notions of what a muslim nation is, since we draw parallels with Arab culture. There is a lot of Sanskrit influence in Indonesia, Hindu deities are a part of their culture even though their religion is Islam. As a culture, they also revere Ganesha, Hanuman and Garuda.

Their currency has Ganesha on it!

It's a complex society. But @Bornubus is right, Saudi money is flowing in and the Wahabbi influence is spreading. As we all know, nothing good ever comes out of it. This attack is a perfect symptom of that problem.

 

[Bornubus]

Very true. I used to have an online pen pal 5 years ago. He was a typical good guy (educated, well spoken, morally sane). I experienced Indonesia through his facebook photos. It looked (and still does) like a vibrant economy and a stable democracy. If someone had told me back then that Indonesia was a muslim nation I wouldn't have believed it. It's only a couple of years ago that I realized that it was a muslim nation when I did a google search out of curiosity. It doesn't conform to our notions of what a muslim nation is, since we draw parallels with Arab culture. There is a lot of Sanskrit influence in Indonesia, Hindu deities are a part of their culture even though their religion is Islam. As a culture, they also revere Ganesha, Hanuman and Garuda.

Their currency has Ganesha on it!

It's a complex society. But @Bornubus is right, Saudi money is flowing in and the Wahabbi influence is spreading. As we all know, nothing good ever comes out of it. This attack is a perfect symptom of that problem.

Their Airline is Garuda.Bali Island has still 90% Hindu population

The names used to be in corrupt Sanskrit, Sukarno Putri.

 

[Navneet Kundu]

@Bornubus Yup. Just saw this on Twitter

Moral of the story is that Hindus are stupid no matter which country they belong to. A violent ideology is hell bent on chopping off their heads but Indonesian Hindus, just like sikular Hindus all over the world, are busy giving certificates of innocence to terrorists even before the operation has concluded. This timid, suicidal attitude will spell our doom one day. I believe, Hindus in West Bengal and Kerala have some first hand experience to share in this regard. Aur khelo secularism-secularism.

 

[guru-dutt]

Pakistanies on all pakistani forums and other social media are trying to connect threads of all latest bomb blasta and terror attacks in afghanistan , pakistan and indonesia as retaliation for attack on pathan kot air base

 

[ezsasa]

Anybody watching the visuals in BBC/CNN, Indonesian police seems to far better equipped and organised than any other country I have seen. That too during an active terrorist attack..

If you watch the news visuals, there is one thing missing ..... Chaos....

 

[OneGrimPilgrim]

It appears that, ISIS tentacles are expanding all over globe!

i recall watching a news report (on i think India TV) back when IS was still relatively the new kid on the block. this report was regarding an extremist islamist organisation in Indonesia, that was far richer & bigger than IS. their videos (of the org) were really like what IS began to make later - glamorous kind in HD, huge fleet of SUVs moving wherever they go, etc.

but i couldn't find anything about it on google chicha. on the contrary, found IS has very little influence in the country.

 

[Navneet Kundu]

@guru-dutt I see no reason why Indonesia would become the victim of the Pathankot fallout? How is that even remotely related? India and Indonesia have a robust working partnership. We have joint-counter terror training, intelligence sharing, we launched 6 Indonesian satellites last month. Indonesia co-operated with us in extraditing Chota Rajan, which the ISI had sent assassins to kill.

If anything, it might be an ISI sponsored attack to retaliate against a growing India-Indonesia partnership. Indonesia has been strategically plucked from the Pakistani sphere of influence and placed in India's lap by their recent actions. Remember Indonesia offered free oil and military bases to Pakistan and even offered to invade and capture Andaman islands on behalf of Pakistan during the 1965 war. Going by that precedent, their current posturing stands in stark contrast to the erstwhile belligerent attitude they had taken towards India, in the name of 'religion of peace'. Seems Indonesia has moved away from the poisonous association with jihadis and started to act in its people's interests. ISI has punished them for that.

If you watch the news visuals, there is one thing missing ..... Chaos....

That's because there's no Barkha Dirt in Indonesia.

 

[Alien]

Pakistanies on all pakistani forums and other social media are trying to connect threads of all latest bomb blasta and terror attacks in afghanistan , pakistan and indonesia as retaliation for attack on pathan kot air base

Pakistanis

Foolishness has no limits, isn't it?

 

[OneGrimPilgrim]

Very true. I used to have an online pen pal 5 years ago. He was a typical good guy (educated, well spoken, morally sane) so I assumed he was a non-muslim. I viewed Indonesia through his facebook photos. It looked (and still does) like a vibrant economy and a stable democracy. If someone had told me back then that Indonesia was a muslim nation I wouldn't have believed it. It's only a couple of years ago that I realized that it was a muslim nation when I did a google search out of curiosity. It doesn't conform to our notions of what a muslim nation is, since we draw parallels with Arab culture. There is a lot of Sanskrit influence in Indonesia, Hindu deities are a part of their culture even though their religion is Islam. As a culture, they also revere Ganesha, Hanuman and Garuda.

Their currency has Ganesha on it!

It's a complex society. But @Bornubus is right, Saudi money is flowing in and the Wahabbi influence is spreading. As we all know, nothing good ever comes out of it. This attack is a perfect symptom of that problem.

even though i had a fleeting memory of Indonesia being a muslim country, but didn't bother to read about it ever, until some months back. read on wiki and a few other pages. the info was revealing. would concur with your observations, esp. the latter ones, yes.

 

[Alien]

i recall watching a news report (on i think India TV) back when IS was still relatively the new kid on the block. this report was regarding an extremist islamist organisation in Indonesia, that was far richer & bigger than IS. their videos (of the org) were really like what IS began to make - glamorous kind, huge fleet of SUVs moving wherever they go, etc.

but i couldn't find anything about it on google chicha. on the contrary, found IS has very little influence in the country.

Lets wait and watch. I wouldn't be surprised, if ISIS tweet appears in a day or two claiming for the responsibility!