Jakarta terrorist attacks were 'planned in Syria by IS militant'

Indonesian police have named the suspected mastermind of yesterday's terrorist attack in Jakarta, in which seven people, including five assailants, were killed.

Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian national believed to be fighting with Islamic State in Syria, is said to have planned and funded the operation in the militant group's de facto capital of Raqqa.

Jakarta police chief Tito Karnavian told Al Jazeera that Naim's "vision is to unite all Isis-supporting elements in south-east Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines".

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Militants armed with suicide vests and handguns targeted a busy business district in the capital yesterday morning, killing a Canadian national and an Indonesia police officer.

More than 20 people were wounded, including a Dutch national employed by the United Nations who is said to be "fighting for his life" in hospital, The Guardian reports.

Officers have identified four out of the five attackers, naming one as Afif Sunakim, a previously convicted militant. Karnavian told the BBC the attackers were "connected to other cells in Java and Sulawesi and we are chasing them".

Three men have also been arrested, though police say they are not linked to yesterday's attacks.

The situation in Jakarta remains unclear, says Al Jazeera journalist Sohail Rahman, adding: "Three individuals are being questioned at the moment. Whether there were any that got away is one line of inquiry."

Jakarta attacks: Islamic State claims responsibility

14 January

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a series of bomb and gun attacks in central Jakarta that left at least seven people dead.

"A group of soldiers of the caliphate in Indonesia targeted a gathering from the crusader alliance that fights the Islamic State in Jakarta," the militant group said in an online statement.

Police say five of the seven assailants were killed in the attack and the others captured.

The attack began at 10.30am local time, with militants targeting United Nations offices, a busy crossroads and a Starbucks café. Police counter-terrorism forces and the military quickly surrounded the area as images showed bodies lying in the street.

One of the dead is believed to be a Canadian national, the other an Indonesian police officer. The Netherlands has confirmed a Dutch man was seriously wounded and was undergoing surgery.

Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders said it shows "terrorism can hit everybody. Whether you are shopping in the heart of Paris, in a New York office or on vacation in Jakarta."

Coming so soon after similar bombings in Turkey, Iraq and Cameroon, it is further confirmation that Islamic State "is now pursuing an expanded, go-anywhere international campaign of almost daily terror attacks," writes The Guardian's Simon Tisdall.

"It's overriding ambition is plain: to be the first terrorist organisation with truly global reach."