Small explosion at NY Times Square

New York: A small explosion caused minor damage to a US military recruiting centre in New York's Times Square area in early hours of on Thursday but there were no injuries, police said.

Police said an improvised explosive device caused minor damage to the building around 3:45am (0845 GMT).

The thick glass door was cracked and the lower part of its metal frame was twisted. The blast also shattered a window encasing the classic recruiting poster of Uncle Sam saying, "I want you."

The explosion occurred in the early hours of the morning, when there there are few people in the often bustling area in the heart of Manhattan.

The explosion sparked an immediate and large police response - one of the legacies of the September 11 attacks six years ago, since when the city has been on a constant and heightened state of alert.

The US Homeland Security Department said there was no sign of an immediate threat to the United States from the blast, and said the FBI was taking part in a probe of it.

Initial stages

The targeted building sits in a traffic island between Broadway and Seventh Avenue in Times Square, sometimes called the crossroads of the world. Anti-war protesters periodically stage demonstrations there, and the building has also been hit by vandalism in the past.

Asked if there was a link to terrorism in the incident, Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Laura Keehner said the probe was still in its initial stages, but added "there is no credible information to suggest there is an imminent threat against the homeland at this time".

Police initially closed off the streets around the busy tourist and business area, but traffic was allowed through the square three hours after the explosion. Subway train operations through Times Square station were back to normal.

New Yorkers have been sensitive about such incidents since hijacked plane attacks destroyed the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan on September 11, 2001. The Twin Towers were also targeted in 1993 by a truck bomb attack that killed six people.

'Some concern'

Capt Charles Jaquillard, who is in charge of US Army recruiting in Manhattan and works in the center, said at the scene that nobody was in the building when the explosion occurred.

Asked if he thought it was a terrorist attack, Jaquillard said: "I don't know. Obviously there's some concern, but we'll see what the investigation will determine."

Nino Reyes, 26, said he had just opened his coffee and snack stand when he heard an explosion and saw a plume of red smoke shoot up and then turn black.

He said he saw three or four people running away.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the blast was the result of an improvised explosive device that could have caused serious injury or even proved fatal.

"This was not a particularly sophisticated device, it was a low-order explosive in an ammunition box," readily available in military surplus stores, he told reporters.