Jakarta attacks Q&A: Where is it? Why are terrorists attacking Indonesia?

At least seven are dead after a series of bomb and gun attacks across the capital city

Indonesian police take position and aim their weapons as they pursue suspects (Getty )

Bomb and gun attacks have left at least seven people - including five militants - dead in the centre of Jakarta, Indonesia.

Police say up to 14 militants were involved in the attack which saw suspected Islamist terrorists walk into a Starbucks coffee shop and blow themselves up.

Another two men were seen carrying handguns into a police station where they opened fire.

At least one policeman is believed to be among the dead.

There have also been reports of blasts outside the city's United Nations office and near the Turkish and Pakistani embassies.

Where is Jakarta?

Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia - a large nation of more than 250 million people and more than 14,000 individual islands in south-east Asia.

It has a predominantly Muslim population but has a secular constitution and its largest Islamic organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama, has directly condemned Isis and other terror groups.

Police officers react near the site of a blast in Jakarta (Reuters)

Who is behind this?

The attack has not been claimed by any terror group but Isis has previously threatened to put the country in its “spotlight” following the Paris attacks in November that killed 130 people.

Last year, it was reported that Isis wanted to establish a “distant caliphate” in Indonesia - which has the largest Muslim population in the world - and the country is on high alert after police arrested several militants with Isis links planning attacks in December, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Could it be someone other than Isis?

Isis is not the only terror group active in Indonesia.

Also in December, a man from the Chinese Uighur Muslim minority was arrested for allegedly planning a suicide attack on New Year’s Eve.

Another group, an al-Qaeda affiliate called Jemaah Islamiyah (JL), has been active in recent years. The group is dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in Southeast Asia.

It was behind the most deadly terror attack ever on Indonesian soil, when three suicide bombers killed 202 people in two nightclubs in Bali in 2002.

JL has also been involved in several attacks on Marriott hotels in Jakarta over the past decade.

In the past, separatist movements have been blamed for attacks in the country.

Office workers in a nearby building filmed the gunfight and explosions at the Sarinah shopping centre on Thursday. (LiveLeak)

What happens now?

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has condemned the killings as “acts of terror” and urged the public to remain calm.

In a statement on Indonesian television he said: "This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people.

"Our nation and our people should not be afraid, we will not be defeated by these acts of terror, I hope the public stay calm."

One of the attackers is believed to have fled on a motorbike and was being pursued by police.

Additional reporting by AP