ATTACKERS set off explosions at a Starbucks cafe in a bustling shopping area in Indonesia’s capital and waged gunbattles with police Thursday, leaving bodies in the streets as office workers watched in terror from high-rise buildings.

    Police said five attackers and two civilians were killed, while 10 people were injured in the brazen attacks, which followed several warnings in recent weeks by police that Islamic militants were planning something big. It was unclear if any perpetrators remained at large.

    General Anton Charilyan, a national police spokesman, said the attacks involved an unknown number of assailants with grenades and guns.

    He said they imitated the recent “terror acts” in Paris and were likely from the Islamic State group, but gave no evidence.

    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.

    No one immediately claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack on Thamrin Street, which prompted a security lockdown in central Jakarta and enhanced checks all over the crowded city of 10 million.

    However, Aamaq, a news agency affiliated with the Islamic State group, quoted an unidentified source as saying the militant group carried out the attack.

    “A source to Aamaq: Fighters from the Islamic State carried out this morning an armed attack that targeted foreigners,” it said.

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

    The area has many luxury hotels, and offices in high-rise buildings and embassies.

    (SD-Agencies)