T

he National Police are considered to have swiftly and reliably countered a deadly terrorist attack in front of the Cakrawala Building on Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta on Thursday and were perceived to have restored a sense of security to scared Jakartans during the dark hours.

In less than five hours, the police disabled the terrorist actions, which left five alleged perpetrators and two civilians dead and another 24 people injured, including five police officers.

Two suspects died in suicide bombings while three others were shot dead by the police. The police said none of the suspects survived.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan said that the police also raided the building and its surroundings after the final explosion. '€œWe found six bombs that had yet to be detonated,'€ he said.

Police officers, including several top figures like Jakarta Police general crimes director Sr. Comr. Krishna Murti, Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Hendro Pandowo and his deputy Adj. Sr. Comr. Roma Hutajulu were seen on live TV eliminating the terrorist suspects during the shooting spree.

A Central Jakarta Police car was also the target of a grenade bombing and gunfire by the perpetrators, wounding several police officers.

Anton said the police had actually been aware that there would be a terrorist attack in Indonesia.

'€œThe perpetrators were allegedly affiliated with the Islamic State,'€ he said, adding that, therefore, t
he police had swiftly countered the attack.

According to the National Police, the attack has claimed seven lives: the five perpetrators and two
civilians, an Indonesian and a Canadian.

Besides injuring civilians, the attack also wounded five police officers, four of them traffic police on duty in the area.

Traffic Police officer Adj. First Insp. Dodi Maryadi and Adj. First Insp. Budiyono, a Central Jakarta Police internal affairs officer, were both shot in the stomach.

Adj. First Insp. Budi Rachmat, a traffic police officer, was shot in the left side of his chest, while Adj. First Insp. Suhadi, a traffic police officer, suffered two shots in the back. Traffic police officer Deny M. was injured in the leg, according to data from the Jakarta Police.

Military expert Salim Said of the Indonesia Defense University said that the police had done a good job in handling the attack. '€œIt was terrorism. No wonder that it occurred undetected. In this case, the police looked capable and skillful,'€ Salim said.

Information about possible terrorist attacks, he said, had emerged since Christmas and New Year'€™s Eve, but at that time the police had tightened security so the attacks did not happen. '€œMoreover, the police, through its counterterrorism squad [Densus 88], have arrested a number of alleged terrorists in recent years. If they had not, today'€™s attack might have gone worse and simultaneous,'€ he added.

He went on to say that even in countries like the US and France, such attacks could happen. '€œThere must be victims in any terrorist attack, but we can'€™t always blame the police,'€ Salim said.

A positive response was also delivered by Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama. '€œThe police have been anticipating a terrorist attack since last year,'€ he said, adding that it was proven by the fact that none of the bombs planted in the building had exploded.

He added that the police had also responded well when facing the tragedy. Ahok said that preventing a suicide bombing was difficult. '€œEven European countries cannot prevent it,'€ he said, referring to the recent Paris attacks.

Ahok said it was not possible for security guards to always be suspicious and paranoid and to check all people'€™s bags.

Fedina S. Sundaryani contributed to the story.