Police found the terrifying arsenal of bombs, guns, ammunition and knives in a terrorist’s rucksack after a three-hour gun battle in the Indonesian capital.
One of the fanatics had earlier been seen training his handgun on potential victims while stalking the streets as terrified onlookers ran for their lives.
The last stand played out near a Starbucks in a bustling shopping area after the team of seven militants traded fire with police and blew themselves up.
Shocking footage shows one of the suicide bombers erupting into a ball of fire after detonating his explosives outside the American coffee chain.
Another bomber exploded inside the cafe, wounding several inside. As people poured out, waiting gunmen opened fire on them, killing a Canadian man.
At the same time, two militants attacked a police traffic post nearby, using what witnesses described as homemade hand grenades, killing themselves and an Indonesian man.
Five attackers and two civilians were killed in the attack, while two of the militants were taken alive, police said.
Twenty people, including a Dutch man, were wounded.
Police finally declared the area near the Sarinah shopping mall secure five hours after the major downtown street – not far from the presidential palace and the U.S. Embassy – had turned into a battleground.
ISIS officially claimed responsibility for the attacks.
In a statement posted online, it said: “A group of soldiers of the caliphate in Indonesia targeted a gathering from the crusader alliance that fights the Islamic State in Jakarta through planting several explosive devices that went off as four of the soldiers attacked with light weapons and explosive belts.”
Jakarta’s police chief earlier told reporters: “ISIS is behind this attack definitely” and named an Indonesian militant called Bahrun Naim as the man responsible for plotting it. Police believe Naim is in the Syrian city of Raqqa.
Aamaaq news agency, which is allied to the terror group, said on its Telegram channel: “Islamic State fighters carried out an armed attack this morning targeting foreign nationals and the security forces charged with protecting them in the Indonesian capital.”
Police earlier said the attackers were linked to a terror cell that was foiled in the Indonesian city of Surakarta last December and the people behind the blasts were reportedly in communication with people in Syria.
The drama played out on the streets and on television screens this morning, with at least six explosions and a gunfight in a movie theatre.
S/SH