At least two people are reported killed in a series of blasts in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, with gunfire breaking out afterwards.
The explosions happened outside the Sarinah shopping centre, close to the presidential palace and UN offices, say reports.
A UN official close to the scene, Jeremy Douglas, told the BBC that gunfire was ongoing.
A POLICE officer has reportedly been shot after an exchange of gunfire and a series of explosions in Jakarta, including one outside the United Nations office.
There has been reports of at least six suspected bomb explosions in a 2km radius of Indonesia’s capital, with one ripping through a Starbucks coffee shop near the United Nations office.
A police operation following the explosions found firearms in a nearby building, Antara News reports.
United Nations regional representative Jeremy Douglas tweeted that there have been at last six explosions and “a serious exchange of fire in the street”.
“Police now backing-up & security announcement to stay away from windows, & telling folks to retreat from lobby,” Douglas tweeted.
Douglas said on Twitter that locals feared it was a “Paris type” attack.
Several explosions went off and gunfire broke out in the centre of the Indonesian capital on Thursday.
Police said they suspected a suicide bomber was responsible for at least one the blasts.
Witnesses reported six bombs went off and a witness told Reuters they saw three dead people and a gunfight going on.
One blast went off in a Starbucks cafe and security forces were later seen entering the building.
‘The Starbucks cafe windows are blown out. I see three dead people on the road. There has been a lull in the shooting but someone is on the roof of the building and police are aiming their guns at him,’ a Reuters photographer said.
According to the official Jakarta police Twitter account, one explosion went off in front of a shopping centre called the Sarinah mall, on a main city avenue.
Indonesia has been on edge over recent weeks about the danger of Islamist militants and counter-terrorism police have launched a crackdown on people with suspected links to Islamic State.
The UN’s south-east Asia regional representative Jeremy Douglas tweeted a bomb had gone off in front of his building.
He then heard a further five bomb blasts and gunfire in central Jakarta.
‘A massive bomb went off in front of our new office as @collie_brown & I exit car. Chaos & we’re going into lock-down,’ Mr Douglas said.
‘Apparent suicide bomber literally 100m from the office and my hotel.’
Photographs on social media show smoke coming from outside a Starbucks coffee shop and local television stations are broadcasting vision of bodies lying on the street.