JAKARTA, Indonesia – The scene had echoes of the Paris attacks: A bustling shopping area shaken by the blasts of suicide bombers and gunfire as onlookers fled in terror.
But when Thursday’s assault in central Jakarta was over, the death toll was far lower. Of the seven killed, five were the attackers themselves and only two were civilians – a Canadian and an Indonesian. Another 20 people were wounded.
Still, authorities and analysts believe the violence that left the city of 10 million on edge for hours was a loud announcement of the Islamic State group’s presence in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.
Supporters of the Islamic State group circulated a claim of responsibility on social media resembling the militants’ previous messages.
The attackers carried handguns, grenades and homemade bombs and struck a Starbucks cafe and a traffic police booth in the Indonesian capital’s highest-profile attack in six years.