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tv   America Tonight  Al Jazeera  January 14, 2016 12:30am-1:01am EST

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unclear, and there are reports that the situation is secure, and there is nobody hiding inside. but at this stage, we're still looking to find more information on the ongoing situation there. the police are still chasing the people involved in these attacks around jakarta, and the situation on the streets is very, very eerie. >> eerie -- -- >> reporter: i can see them right now. there are a lot of police, the anti-terror police going around. this is the biggest roundabout in jakarta, which is 100 meters away from the attack and the anti-terror police, on motorbikes and in cars, are headed up to the location where the grenade was thrown, and people have been shooting randomly at them just over an hour ago. the streets are all blocked off, so there are only a few people on the streets right
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now. everyone has gone back home. and people are already in their offices, already in the shops, and they have all gone home, and trying to find out more information on this situation in jakarta right now. >> okay, so perhaps let's take a step back and maybe reset the table, because as we want to make clear, this situation is happening right now, it's a fluid situation, and sometimes the updates that we get from police literally change a few minutes later. so it's not clear how many gunmen alleged gunmen that the police are actually looking for at this moment. it's not clear and they can not be clear with that much we know. but step heard the explosions herself an hour and 15 minutes ago, at least six explosions, and now the police say that
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there was a grenade involved as well. and they have now updated the number of dead to four. what you're seeing right there on your screen is obviously several dozen law enforcement officers using an suv as some sort of a shield as they try to make their way across the street. so again, at this point, we believe that there are four people that have been killed, and what has happened in jakarta, one of them being a police officer because there was a grenade thrown at a police setup. that's what we know some of these pictures that you're seeing here are some of the explosions that happened within the past hour and 15 minutes in the business district of jakarta, an extremely busy section of the city. gets although back to ben bang,
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ceo of the indonesian magazine, and he has been adding a lot of important reporting to this. and it seems so far that the police are saying that they believe that they have been targeted here, and there of been threats against them. bang, can you tell us more about that? you, as a businessman in the area, have been told that you need to step up security. and tell us more about that. >> well, i think that there's not much more i can add, except that as the ceo of the company, we take care of our company, and i've been wondering -- [ unintelligible ] and it seems to me the chief of police, and apart from the normal target,
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clearly, the police and police stations,icients potential targets for these attacks, so everybody needs to be prepared. and all of the security people in the city, the security to make sure that everyone is making sure that they don't have any gun or any weapons. and but but i can say -- >> what's happening around where you are? step described the scene, the streets being eerily quiet, and we spoke to someone who was locked down in the intercontinental hotel who also said that it was very quiet. and i'm trying to get a sense of how widespread this is, and
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how empty the streets are, and how is it where you are? >> well, my office is probably 2 kilometers from where the explosion took place, and a few minutes ago, i went up to the tom floor to see around. they are not full as normal, the streets, so less jammed out there, but there are still people going about their business, but in lower numbers. >> really? there are still people out and about? >> yes. with something like this happening, right now, is this something that would make you feel uneasy in the coming days some. >> well, not me, personally,
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but for some people, maybe feel that way, but if you just remember what happened after the australian embassy bombing, people start life, only a few days. >> sure. sure. a great point, and let me go back to step. and step, you still there? >> yes, i'm still here. what you have to understand, jakarta is a very big city, and it's a city with 10 million people. so the area where i am, it's right in the heart and the center of the city is very quiet and eerie, but i'm sure in other parts of the city, there are people going about their business, because it is a huge city, and of course not everyone, i think, is even aware of what's going on in the center of jakarta, if you're in the south or in the far north of the city.
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>> can you put it in perspective and give us a history of how safe things have been in the city recently? >> >> reporter: well, we haven't had any big attacks for the last seven years. the last one was in 2019 in jakarta at the marriott and the ritz carlton hotel. and since then, there have always been attacks, but the smaller ones. we had suicide attacks where only one person died. and we had attacks that failed. and we have terrorism experts saying that the moment was definitely weakened. it was weakened by the detention and the arrests, and by a lot of people being shot by the police. so that was the picture that we got for the last seven years, that it was a weak movement.
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but more reports about isil getting stronger here in indonesia. hundreds of people have been gone to syria, and they have joined isil, here in indonesia, there's quite some support. and the police were very worried about that. they were worried that they were gaining strength. and there was a movement in indonesia that they thought was very weak and it was gaining strength. and there were reports about attacks that were going to happen in deans. they were clear about the threats about that. so the police were on high alert as far as i could see it, and they have been arresting a lot of people over the past few weeks. they have raided houses and confiscated weapons, and they have found explosives, and everyone thought that they actually got the heart of the movement. they got the biggest people involved. but now we can conclude that of course it's a big country, and it's very difficult to control, and of course the police
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apparently have no idea of this group. they had no idea that they were going to prevent this attack from happening. what they're saying is it wasn't a big group. it was a group of 10-15 people. but even that is not very clear, and they're still looking for the people involved. but the police think that this is an isil-related attack. >> okay, and again that remains to be seen. step, you say that you heard these explosions about an hour, an hour and 25 minutes ago, and was it immediately clear what it was? >> reporter: it was immediately clear to me and had a lot of other people that there was something serious happening, because it wasn't a surprise. i think that a lot of people were very much aware that any time an attack could happen in indonesia and they were very aware that jack art a.
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especially the center of jakarta could be a target. because it's political and important. so it wasn't a big surprise, but it was just basically a matter of time i guess, where when an attack happened in indonesia again. >> and the video a moment ago, the aftermath of what the police were telling you was a grenade attack, and it was a police group, maybe a small substation that had been clearly damaged and perhaps damaged by that grenade attack. so what it seems is there were at least six explosions. we're not stur i sure 23 sure ie was the grenade attack, but that police station was clearly targeted, resulting in the death of at least four people. one of them being a police officer, and as we speak,
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clearly, there's a huge law enforcement movement to try to get the people responsible for what is happening right now in jakarta. we don't actually know how many people they're looking for, but it's not clear if the police know how many people they're looking for, but this is a developing situation in jakarta that began in the busy business district, near lots of offices in the u.n. building, and as a result, this is spread out in other parts of the city that resulted in lockdowns, we have spoken to someone a little while ago in ther intercontinental hotel that's close, and it's good to point out that this is a huge city, so there are parts of the city going about business as normal, and probably some people don't know what has what happened, but it's a very serious situation that's happening right now in jakarta.
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and it's not clear who is responsible for this. and i just got it in my ear that step is hearing new things. >> we just heard that there's a lot explosion right now, near the jakarta theaters, and we heard that there might be a hostage situation going on, and it's unclear if there's a hostage situation. but there's an explosion there right now. and there has been gunfire heard at the jakarta theater, and now there has bn another explosion. it's not clear if there are any casualties there now, but the police are at that scene, and it's not clear also if it's gunfire, or what kind of explosion, and it's not clear what we just heard, and the situation is still very much ongoing in the center of jakarta. >> step, are you able to sort
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of put into perspective where this theater is, in relation to where the other things are happening? are they all fairly close? >> reporter: yes, it's not a round about, but it's a big traffic thorough way in the heart of jakarta, where two major roads come together. and you have to understand, right on the middle of that is that police post that has just been attacked and has completely been destroyed. right there is also a starbucks cafe, which has also been partially destroyed. all of windows have blown out and it's not clear if that was because of the explosion at the police post, or inside of the cafe. it's not clear, but just across the street is the jakarta theater, which is a big complex. it has cinemas and cafes and
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shops, and they probably opened by an hour when this whole situation started. it's not clear. and again, it's not clear any hostage situation at the moment. but we just heard that there's another explosion in that area, where in the moment, a lot of anti-terror police, with all of their equipment is at the scene. so it's not clear if this is a response to anyone shooting, or is this another attack. >> all right, step, we're continuing to get updates there, and that is the damage at the police post that you were just talking about. so just to be clear, the area that you're describing clearly could be the police that were targeted, and it's also an area that if you wanted to make an impact, there are a lot of civilians as well, an
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incredibly busy area, and an incredibly large city. so let's dined o kind of get yoo speed. there have been a series of six explosions in the central business district of indonesia's capital of jakarta, and this is near the presidential palace and the u.n. office. at least four people have been killed. and we also know that a grenade was thrown at a police station, and a police officer is among those killed. this situation is ongoing, and its happening right now. there are explosions and gunfire taking place. there are several security forces involved in this operation. right now, there's no indication of who is behind the attacks. step had said that the police had said that they had received threats. but let's be clear. there's no one who was claiming responsibility for
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what was happening right now. the publisher of tempo, an indiemotion magazine. >> the explosion, and we don't know yet who made the explosions. because the police are surrounding the area. >> what else can you tell me about that theater? >> well, the jakarta theater is one of the oldest theaters, one of the casinos, and it's no longer a casino, but it's a
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place where sometimes people come for a wedding or other things. but if the attacks are taking place, because the place is one of the premium areas in indonesia, if you want to -- you attack this area. >> that's what it seems. take it a step further for me and tell me a little bit more about this area. it certainly seems like a place that would be very impactful if you wanted to do harm and grab people's attention. tell me more about the area. >> reporter: well, this is what we call the main street of jakarta. and in fact, it's one of the streets where now currently, they're building the first -- in jakarta. and the oldest department
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stores, so if you want to say, it's a symbol of capitalism. but here's where you also have all of the, what we call big business area, and you have also more of one of the first five star hotels, 100 to 200 metres away from there, and in that, we also have -- issue, one of the symbols of jakarta. so if you wanted to get attention, and then you do it in this area, in fact, on sunday, we have a car-free day, where people walk and do whatever activities. it's one of the popular areas. and if the attack was an hour or two hours later than what
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happened, maybe there would be more victims, because at nighttime, there would be much more people on that street. but because we are earlier on, it would be if they would be an hour or two hours later than one. >> as a journalist. and based on the reporting that you have done, living in jakarta, how prepared, how much confidence would you say that the people have in how law enforcement will be able to stabilize the situation and get to the bottom of it? >> well, i think that the police know who they are, and they have been also watching all of these from syria, from the [ unintelligible ], and there has been a lot of expectation that many of those, as we call it. some of them even say up to 300
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of them were already on a train there. and some of them turned back, and some of them were disappointed. >> and if i could just stop you for a minute, we have to be clear that we don't know who is responsible for what is going on right now, but i'll let you continue your point. >> we do not know who they are right now, but there of been expectations that the people who return from isis in syria would do something. the expectation was christmas. because of police operation, they were more on the defensive, and now they're attacking. but of course, expectation. we don't know yet who did it, but if you watch the video of the attack, the military
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operation, because there was a sign which usually we see in the movies. and when there were videos of the attack, which is like, you know, if you have a smart phone, you still will get these videos and pictures, a lot of them, because there are a lot of people from their offices, who took these videos, and took these pictures. and you can hear in the explosion that some people actually, there was also a woman's voice saying, they exploded themselves. i think that's why, in the earlier information, a lot of people who watched the videos in the social media, from many people who took it from their offices in high-rises buildings, there are a lot of
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high-rise buildings armed the area, have been watching the videos, and the commands where they killed themself, or they did it to themself. but of course it's an ongoing situation, and we don't know what's really happening, and we don't know [ unintelligible ] or not. and as you mentioned, nobody has claimed anything about these attacks, so we cannot say who they are, and why they did it and so on. we can only guess. >> all right, and step, going back to step now, and police have not said anything so far about who they think -- let me rephrase that. have the police said anything so far about who they think is responsible, or is the focus retain now, just stabilizing the situation, and getting somebody? custody?
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>> reporter: yes, that's exactly the situation right now. just now, a few minutes ago, we heard another explosion in the area, and the police have said that they have gotten a threat from isil that indinisha would be in the spotlight very soon, and we don't know exactly where they got that information from exactly. and the president said that the indonesian public that we should not be afraid. and all of these will be hunted down by the police immediately. and those involved in the organization. we call it an organization, but he hasn't mentioned any names. >> all right, step, what you're saying that the police are saying about a threat from isil, did they say if that was something that was on their
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radar after the paris attacks? or were they not that specific about it? >> reporter: they were not that specific about it, but i assume it was after the paris attacks, and i assume that it's some kind of tense information that they have been ticking up from the people who have been watching. it's very clear that the police were watching a lot of people here in indonesia, and they have been watching their social media, and their mobile phones, and they have been watching them very clearly as far as i understand, and that might be something that they have picked up from there. >> all right, so the one active situation that we're certain of, the fear, and we're not certain of what that is. and that's not to say that there are not other active scenes, but that's the one that we have the latest information o. correct?
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that there was some sort of explosion at the theater, right? >> reporter: yes, that's exactly it. true, but so far, there has not been any talk of any hostage situation, so there's no news or anything about that. it seems it could also be the last explosion that we heard has been the police themselves detonating the device. that also is a possibility. because the police, the anti-terror police, there are a lot of them in the area, and they are trying to secure the area, so it's not clear if there has been another attack. what we know, there has been another explosion, which could also be the police trying to secure the area. >> absolutely, that's a great point. let's remind people of what we know right now. we know that so far, as a result of what has happened in the last hour and a half in jakarta, four people at least have lost their lives, one of them being a police officer as a result of an attack on a
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police post. and we have video of that. and we'll wrap that up for you very shortly. so stand by for those pictures, and the police believe that that was the result of a grenade being thrown at a police post. and the police have said that they have been the target of threats. and this is something not specifically this attack, but that they had heightened security because they have been the target of threats. so as a result, four people have been killed. there have been a lot of varying conflicting reports about other things that have happened. but we do know that other people there are saying, including step, have said at least six explosions this morning in a very busy area of jakarta. a business district near lots of office buildings, near the u.n. building as well. and we have been speaking to a journalist this morning that recently he got reports from law enforcement, that he should
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step up security because there had been threats from various groups. it could be isil in fact, but to be clear, no one was claimed responsibility for the situation, and it's a situation happening right now, and it's a situation where the police are still trying to stabilize to get closely of and someone in custody. so this about not about claiming responsibility right now, but making sure that people are safe. there are lots of buildings on lockdown in this area, but with the city being so large, there are lots of places in the city functioning as normal. and a lot of people don't know what's happening, but a human police presence as they try to stabilize the situation. but you can see lots of damage from several explosions that happened in the city. armored tanks right in the middle of the streets, where normally there would be cars, people walking on the sidewalk,
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and this happened right near a very busy cafe, as well as a place that could really make an impact if you're trying to get the attention of the world. and that's what's happening right now. step, do you have anything else to add, anything that i'm missing as i'm trying to keep viewers up to speed here? >> no, i think that you summed it up pretty well. it's an ongoing situation as you said, and the situation in central jakarta is eerie right now. it's a totally different picture in the day, and the people have left the streets here and gone back home to safety to find out what's going to happen next here. >> all right, step, we're coming up on the top of the hour, the situation that is still happening in jakarta and indonesia. these are pictures that are coming to us. the latest pictures from the local media there. quite a scene if you're in
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jakarta, or if you're turning on the television there, and you can see that there are armored tanks going down the street. and you see the video there of explosions happening in an area where normally there would be hustle and bustle right now. there are office buildings, and u.n. buildings, and a very popular cafe. there's a theater right down the street and everything, except for the police presence, as they try to figure out who is responsible for the gunfire and the explosion that's really captivated the streets of indonesia and jakarta for the last hour and a half. as our understanding right now, we're not aware of any arrests, and unfortunately, we're aware of at least four people that have been killed. one of them being a police officer. as it seems, it seems the early reporting that the police may have been the target of this attack. we just don't know who has perpetrated this attack in jakarta. in indonesia.
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we have been carrying this for you live now for quite some time, trying to get you the very latest reporting. if i could go back now to bang moody, this has been going for about an hour and a half now the streets of jakarta now really over run with a are moored tanks with armored personnel. it's quite a scene to see. how confident do you feel that the police are going to get a handal on this in. >> well, i mean, so far indonesian police probably has been very successful in tackling the terrorism. as you know probably already more than 70 700 terrorists has been put on trial and sentenced. in fact some of them ady