Islamic State claims deadly Jakarta bomb attacks

Attackers detonated suicide bombs and opened fire near the Sarinah shopping centre in Jakarta in a series of assaults that police said "imitated" the Paris terror attacks and was linked to the Islamic State group.

Large explosions rocked the city before more than two hours of gunfire ensued as police exchanged fire with the attackers.

All five attackers were killed alongside two innocent bystanders - a Canadian and an Indonesian - in the attack that took place near to the presidential palace and the US and French embassies.

Twenty people were injured including a Dutch man who was seriously injured and was undergoing surgery, the embassy said.

The attack began when militants detonated suicide bombs outside a Starbucks cafe near the mall Thamrin Street and opened fire on customers escaping from the building.

At about the same time two other suicide bombers attacked a nearby traffic police booth, killing themselves and an Indonesian man.

Police said that minutes later a group of policemen was attacked by the remaining two gunmen, using homemade bombs leading to a 15-minute gunfight in which both attackers were killed.

Police then combed the building housing the Starbucks and another nearby building where they discovered six homemade bombs.

Shortly before 8am GMT, police in Jakarta said they had cleared the building of all attackers and that the incident was over.

They arrested four suspected militants believed to have been involved.

The Islamic State group circulated a claim of responsibility for the suicide attacks on Twitter and pro-Islamic State groups.

It said attackers carried out the assault in Jakarta "targeting foreign nationals and security forces" and had planted several bombs with timers.

However, Indonesian police disputed the number claimed, confirming there were four attackers wearing suicide belts and carrying light weaponry.

"We have identified all attackers," national police spokesman Major General Anton Charilyan told reporters. "We can say that the attackers were affiliated with the ISIS group."

Indonesia's national police spokesman said the attackers had copied those who struck in Paris.

The attackers are thought to have had links with IS and were part of a group led by Bahrum Naim, an Indonesian militant who is now in Syria.

It was the first major attack in Indonesia's capital since the 2009 bombings of two hotels that killed seven people and injured more than 50.

Since then, security forces have had success against domestic militants, but have more recently become worried about a resurgence inspired by groups such as IS.

"This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people," President Joko Widodo said in a statement on television.

"The state, the nation and the people should not be afraid of, and be defeated by, such terror acts," he said.

Britons in Indonesia have been warned to "maintain vigilance" after terror attacks in the capital Jakarta.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond condemned the "utterly senseless acts of terror".