Loud explosions were heard in central Baghdad Sunday evening and the blasts were reportedly to have been caused by a car bomb outside a hotel, CNN said.

Flames and smoke were seen rising into the air. The explosions occurred at around 8:20 p.m local time (1720 GMT), hours after US officials announced that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was arrested in Tikrit, his hometown in northern Iraq.

So far, no report of casualties or damage was available.