At least one policeman has been killed in a series of explosions in downtown Jakarta, Indonesian media reported, as gunfire rang out of the capital’s downtown area.

Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen, reporting from Jakarta, said a police post was destroyed in a suicide attack and that a gun battle was ongoing.

“The attack has caused a lot of panic and the area has been locked down by police,” Vaessen said.

“The police are still investigating so we don’t know how and why the attack happened. There were at least six explosions, and so far it looks like the police was the target.”

An unknown number of people were injured in Thursday’s attack, which occurred at the Sarinah shopping centre near the presidential palace in the centre of the capital.