Jakarta red-light district razed in plan to put brothels out of business

One of Indonesia's oldest red-light districts was demolished on Monday in an operation overseen by hundreds of police and troops, as authorities press on with a plan to close all brothel areas in the Muslim-majority country.

Dozens of illegal bars and brothels along a polluted riverside strip in north Jakarta - known locally as Kalijodo - were reduced to rubble by excavators.

The bars - many marked by neon beer signs and illustrations of beautiful women luring men - were torn down by the machines in a matter of minutes, leaving behind nothing but splintered wood, brick and old mattresses.