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A huge explosion ripped through part of the heavily guarded Marriott Hotel in Pakistan’s capital Saturday, damaging buildings in a wide radius, killing at least two people and wounding at least 25.

The Marriott in Islamabad is a favorite place for foreigners to stay and gather, and it has previously been targeted by militants.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw many people, including foreigners, running out — some of them stained with blood. Others lay on the ground, either unconscious or dead.

Ambulances rushed to the scene, where a fire also burned, smoke hovered and the carcasses of vehicles were scattered. Windows in buildings hundreds of meters away were damaged.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, and its exact cause was unclear. But Pakistan, a U.S. ally in the war on terror, has faced a wave of militant violence in recent weeks following army-led offensives against insurgents in its border regions, though the capital has avoided most of the bloodshed.

At a hospital where many of the casualties were taken, official Raja Ejaz said at least two people had died and 25 were wounded.

Some reports say the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber, but this has not been unconfirmed.

Our correspondent says that the centre of the blast was at the front of the building close to the area where security checks are carried out.

She says that about two-thirds of the 290-room hotel is on fire, and the wounded and dead are still being brought out, on stretchers or wrapped in sheets.

There are unconfirmed reports of people being trapped inside the building.

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