At least 18 people were killed and dozens wounded in attacks against three hotels in the Jordanian capital Amman on Wednesday night that the authorities said could have been caused by suicide bombers.
The dead were reported at the luxury Radisson SAS and Grand Hyatt hotels, usually packed with foreigners, where some 100 people were wounded. The other strike hit the Days Inn hotel.
A bomb exploded at the entrance of the Grand Hyatt killing at least 10 people, security sources told AFP.
Eight others were killed when a bomb hidden behind a plant exploded in the Philadelphia ballroom of the Radisson SAS where a wedding reception was underway, the sources told AFP.
The Grand Hyatt and the Radisson SAS lie about one kilometer from each other and are located in an upmarket of the city, until now seen as one of the most stable capitals in the Arab world.
It was not immediately known if there were casualties at the Days Inn hotel, a three-star establishment in Rabiyeh neighbourhood where the Israeli embassy is located.
"Three terrorist operations targeted the Radisson SAS, the Grand Hyatt and the Days Inn hotels," Major Bashir al-Daajeh told the Petra news agency, in what the agency said was the first official reaction to the attacks.
"They could be suicide operations," Petra quoted him as saying.
State television confirmed the three explosions while hospital sources said several more people were wounded and rushed to hospitals.
The fire brigade and ambulances rushed to the scene to ferry away the wounded.
The first blast hit the five-star Radisson SAS at 9:02pm (1902 GMT) in the western part of the capital and could be heard for kilometres (miles) around and was immediately followed by a second blast at the Grand Hyatt.
Prime Minister Adnan Badran also rushed to the Grand Hyatt, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.
Police threw barricades around the neighbourhood home to several five star hotels. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts.
Earlier on Wednesday, the US embassy in Beijing said police had warned that Islamic extremists could be planning attacks on luxury hotels in China next week.
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