At least nine people have been killed and 48 injured in explosions at two luxury hotels in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

Listen to an interview with Dutch economic advisor Henry Sandee in Jakarta

The explosions occurred at the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton. Four of those killed are reported to be foreigners, according to the Indonesian police. The explosions happened almost simultaneously at 8 am local time. The lobby was blown up at the Marriott and the dining room at the Ritz-Carlton.

Reports say hundreds of people were evacuated from the area surrounding the two hotels and that the streets are strewn with broken glass and concrete debris.

There are also reports of a third explosion in another part of the city, no casualties have been mentioned in that incident. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the blasts.
 

Earlier attack
The Marriott was hit by a suicide attack in 2003 that killed 12 people and injured more than 150. That bombing and several other high profile attacks before that had been claimed by or blamed on the Jemaah Islamiyah group, but many suspected members have been imprisoned and there have been no high profile attacks in Indonesia in the last few years. The blasts come a week after presidential elections in Indonesia, which passed without incident.

The hotels are in the business district of Kuningan and are close to each other in the centre of Jakarta. Eye-witnesses quoted by news agencies spoke of hearing loud booms at the times of the explosions and of windows being blown out.

The Dutch foreign ministry says three Dutch nationals are amongst the wounded - no details have been revealed about the extent of their injuries.

Mumbai on high alert
Earlier this week, police in India's commercial capital Mumbai issued a warning saying the threat of a terrorist attack was high there. Hotels were mentioned as possible targets.

The threat level is said to be the highest since attacks in Mumbai in November last year, in which 174 people were killed and 239 people injured - hotels were targeted then too.

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton arrives in India on Friday. She lands in Mumbai at the start of a five-day visit aimed at boosting US-India relations.

Radical Islam
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gave a press conference today, in which he suggested the bombings could have been carried out by his political opponents. The finger has also been pointed at Jemaah Islamiyah, but no one has so far come forward to claim responsibility.

Jim Della Giacoma, head of the South East Asia branch of the International Crisis Group, said there are still radical groups in Indonesia capable of carrying out this kind of violence.

"Jemaah Islamiyah is very splintered and very fractured and there are some former members who are still committed to violence who have formed their own groups and have been very active in Indonesia," he said.

"They would be one group to consider.... but not the only one, and I think it's too early to tell that there's any one group behind this."

Listen to the full analysis by Jim Della Giacoma