The Indonesian government has defended itself against criticism of its preparedness to handle terror threats, following deadly attacks in Jakarta on Thursday.  

The Jakarta attack was not proof of the government being unaware of threats, but rather showed the difficulty of the task at hand, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said.

Ryamizard commended the police's swift actions in intercepting the attackers by isolating them outside of the Skyline building, where a series of explosions followed by a gunfight took place. '€œIf they had not been stopped, there could have been a stronger blast inside the building,'€ he said.

The government was already privy to information on possible terror attacks in the capital city following an earlier report by the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).

"One or two months ago, areas around Senayan and Hotel Indonesia were warned," Ryamizard said as quoted by tempo.co.

He believed the attackers on Thursday took advantage of a moment when officers were vulnerable. "The perpetrators would have seen if the officers were ready, and then [they would not have carried out the attack]. But in the opposite situation, they would," he said.

According to Ryamizard, the government still could not confirm if the attacks were carried out by members of the Islamic State (IS) group because the concepts of terrorism and radicalism had spread throughout many groups.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Police chief Tito Karnavian told reporters that IS was "definitely" behind the attack and suggested the mastermind was Indonesian militant Bahrun Naim, who is believed to be in Syria.

The explosions and gunfight took place around the Sarinah department store in Central Jakarta. According to a police report, at least seven people were killed, including five attackers.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said in a televised address that '€œthe state, the nation and the people should not be afraid of, or be defeated by, such terror acts.'€ (liz/bbn)(+)

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