A series of bomb blasts have rocked the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, followed by reports of continuing gunfire and at least three people killed

Blasts hit several locations, including a cafe at a shopping centre near the presidential palace and UN offices.
There are reports of police snipers on the streets – a BBC reporter near the shopping centre said police have cordoned off the area.

There is no indication yet of who might be behind the assault.

Indonesia – the world’s most populous Muslim country – has been attacked by Islamist militant groups in the past. It has recently been on high alert after threats from the so-called Islamic State.

This is the first major attack on Jakarta since the 2009 Marriot and Ritz hotels bombings.

The landscape of terror has changed dramatically since then. Indonesian police have warned for some time that there would be an attack on Jakarta.

But this appears to be a very different style of attack from anything that’s taken place in Jakarta in the past.

‘Gunfire right now’

National police spokesman told AFP people had been warned to stay indoors in case of further explosions.

A UN official, Jeremy Douglas, told the BBC had been about 150m away from one of the blasts near the UN building.

“Then we ran into the building. We heard a third explosion. We got up to our office on the tenth floor and we heard a fourth, a fifth and a sixth.

“There is gunfire going on in the street right now.”

A Reuters photographer said one explosion had been at a Starbucks cafe, with its windows blown out.

He said police appeared to be aiming guns at a man on the roof of the building.