The multiple explosions took place near the United Nations office and Starbucks Cafe.
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Gunshots were heard after the midmorning explosion Thursday in front of the Sarinah shopping mall in an area that also has many luxury hotels, embassies and offices.
Police have also told local journalists the attack is ISIS-related.
Six bombs are believed to have gone off and a witness told the Reuters news agency they had seen three bodies. He says the other two attackers, carrying handguns, entered a police post from where he heard gunfire.
A BBC reporter at the scene said police have cordoned off the area.
Indonesia’s national police spokesman has said the explosions were suspected to have been carried out by suicide bombers.
The ABC’s Samantha Hawley reports the explosions may have been caused by grenades, rather than bombs.
“We can see one body in the middle of the road, another body beside it”, she said.
There have been explosions and several casualties in central Jakarta, with reports a police station was targeted.
“A short time ago about 12 police shielded themselves behind a auto and as the vehicle moved along they moved along behind it so it does suggest there’s still a threat”, she said.
Indonesian police believe around 10 to 14 gunmen are involved in this latest attack.
Hawley said warnings had been issued by Indonesian security authorities late past year about the danger of attacks.
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Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has suffered a spate of deadly attacks by the Jemaah Islamiyah network in the past.
