At least nine people were killed and 14 injured in explosions at two Baghdad hotels, police officials told CNN on Friday.
The car bombs targeted the Babylon Hotel and Cristal Grand Ishtar Hotel, formerly known as the Ishtar Sheraton Hotel. Both are popular with the city’s elite and with foreigners, including journalists.
The hotels were put on lockdown as investigators converged on the scene. As a result of the bombings, the country’s Interior Ministry boosted security around other prominent hotels and vital areas in Baghdad, officials said.
ISIS later said it was behind the blasts, according to a statement posted to Twitter by the group’s supporters.
If true, it would signal the Sunni extremist group poses a threat inside Iraq’s capital. It already controls large areas in Syria and much of Iraq, including Mosul, the country’s second-largest city.