DHAKA: Jakarta's chief of police says Indonesia is hunting terror cells believed to have been involved in the attack on the capital.

Two civilians and five attackers died in Thursday's gun and bomb assault in a busy commercial district, reports the BBC.

Insp Gen Tito Karnavian said the actual attacking cell was "tiny" and had been "neutralised", but was linked to cells in Sulawesi and Java.

The Islamic State (IS) militant group has said it was behind the attack.

It released a statement online saying it had been carried out by "soldiers of the Caliphate", targeting "citizens of the Crusader coalition" against the group.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has condemned the "acts of terror".

He tweeted on Friday that there was "no place for terrorism on Earth" and that "every citizen in the world" needed to fight it.

Security forces battled militants for hours on Thursday in a major business and shopping district of Jakarta before bringing the situation under control.

It ended when two of the attackers were killed in a suicide bombing, said police, with the other three killed in gun battles.

A Canadian and an Indonesian national, both civilians, also died and at least 20 people were injured.

BDST: 1028 HRS, JAN 15, 2016
RS

** Explosions, gunfire kill 7 in Indonesia