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Philippines strongly condemns Jakarta attacks

MANILA: The Philippines has strongly condemned the attacks in Jakarta on Thursday, in which at least seven people were killed after armed men carried out a series of gun and bomb attacks in the heart of the Indonesian capital.

“We stand by in solidarity with our Indonesian brothers and sisters in this time of tragedy,” the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

The Philippine Embassy in Jakarta is closely monitoring the situation and is in contact with Indonesian authorities. “So far, there are no reports of Filipino casualties in the attacks,” the DFA added.

Four attackers were also killed, Indonesian police had earlier pointed out, adding that a manhunt for more suspects is underway.

There have so far been no claims of responsibility, but one analyst likened the timed attacks to the Paris massacre where ISIS struck several locations at the same time, media reports said.

Among the victims was one police officer and a foreign national, CNN Indonesia reported.

Budi Gunawan, deputy chief of Indonesian National Police, reportedly said that 10 others, including another foreigner, were injured.

“A Dutch national has been severely injured and is now undergoing surgery at a hospital in Jakarta,” Angele Samura, Security Advisor, Netherlands Embassy Jakarta, was quoted as saying by CNN.

Following the attacks, security measures in Singapore have also been stepped up, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said in a Facebook post. Malaysia has also raised its security alert to the highlest level, the reports said.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who is on a working visit in West Java town of Cirebon, has ordered security forces to hunt down the perpetrators and their network behind the attacks in Jakarta, it was pointed out.

“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,” he said on TV station MetroTV. “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.”

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