[3] It was reported an armed stand-off took place on the fourth level of the Menara Cakrawala (Skyline Tower) on Jalan MH Thamrin.

[3] Though Indonesia is far from the conflicts of the Middle East, the country has experienced several attacks by Islamist militants in the past two decades that have killed hundreds.

[5][9] In 2015, it was reported by the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict that at least 50 Indonesians had joined the thousands of foreign fighters who have travelled to Syria to fight for extremist groups trying to create an Islamic state there.

[10] On 14 January 2016 at 10:40 a.m. local time, several blasts followed by gunfire were reported to have occurred in Central Jakarta, which is home to many luxury hotels, offices and embassies.

[12] The attack targeted a traffic police post at a major intersection, not far from the front doors of a Starbucks coffee shop and a Burger King franchise.

[11] Footage later emerged purportedly showing two attackers huddling together outside the Burger King outlet when one of their suicide bombs was activated and they were blown up.

Naim, thought to be a native of Pekalongan city in Central Java, relocated to Raqqa, Syria sometime before the attacks; he has been known to authorities since at least 2010.

[28] Of the four civilian casualties, three died on the day of the attack: Taher Amer-Ouali, 70, an Algerian-Canadian hearing care specialist visiting family in Indonesia when he was shot;[29][30][31] Rico Hermawan, 20 or 21, an Indonesian summoned for a traffic offence when a bomb exploded at the police post;[25][32] Sugito, 43, an Indonesian courier who was originally labelled as being an attacker due to him sharing a name with a suspected terrorist.

[25][33][34] Rais Karna, 37, an Indonesian working at Jakarta branch of Bangkok Bank as an office boy,[35] was the fourth civilian casualty, dying in hospital two days after the attack from head bullet wounds.

We all are grieving for the fallen victims of this incident, but we also condemn the act that has disturbed the security and peace and spread terror among our people.

"[39] Residents of Jakarta, and across Indonesia took his statement "We are not afraid" to social media with the hashtag #KamiTidakTakut, which was widely used on Twitter in posts offering condolences to the victims or for expressing defiance.