Attacks in Jakarta

(Vatican Radio) Terrorists in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, attacked several different targets on Thursday morning, killing at least six people including at least one policeman. Local authorities confirm one of the attacks took place in a Starbucks cafe in the city’s downtown area, while gunmen attacked a police post nearby.

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Local news outlets also report three other explosions in other parts of the city, in neighborhoods near the Turkish and Pakistani embassies and other government and diplomatic buildings.

UN Regional Representative on Drugs and Crime for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Jeremy Douglas, told the Australian Broadcasting Company he was returning to the nearby UN building when the blasts went off. “We got out of the car and we heard a second bomb, then we heard a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth and then gunfire in the street – a lot of gunfire,” he said.

This is the first major attack on Jakarta since the 2009 Marriot and Ritz hotels bombings.

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country and has been in a state of high alert after threats from the Islamic State.