Car Bombs ripped through the car parks of two upscale Baghdad hotels late on Thursday, killing at least nine people, and injured dozens others.

Car Bombs ripped through the car parks of two upscale Baghdad hotels late on Thursday, killing at least nine people, and injured dozens others.

Militants were able to bring the bombs, which exploded just before midnight (2100 GMT) on Thursday and were heard across the city centre, inside the walled compounds of the Ishtar and Babylon hotels in central Baghdad.

The blast at the Ishtar -- formerly a Sheraton -- shattered windows of the recently renovated hotel, turning rows of expensive cars and SUVs into charred, twisted metal.

People traipsed through the site of the blast, while a group of men struggled to remove the smashed windshield from an SUV on the other side of the hotel.

The Ishtar is a popular site for wedding celebrations, and the area -- which also includes a club and the Palestine hotel -- is crowded with people on Thursday nights.

A second bombing struck the car park at the Babylon, another upmarket and recently refurbished hotel that overlooks the Tigris river in the Jadriya neighborhood.

Police said security forces found another car bomb in the Babylon's car park and defused it.