President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned as terrorism the nearly simultaneous blasts, which come almost exactly three years after militants linked to al-Qaeda bombed two nightclubs in Bali, killing 202 people, mainly foreign tourists.

Police confirmed three blasts at separate restaurants packed with evening diners, two at popular seafood eateries on Jimbaran Beach and one at Kuta Beach in an area surrounded by shops.

"People were running for their lives. Foreign tourists were wounded. I am so scared," Yosi, 24, a shop owner in Kuta Beach near the blast site told Reuters.

Officials at Bali's Sanglah hospital said 25 dead had been brought in. So far 12 bodies had been identified, comprising 10 Indonesians, one Australian and a Japanese national.

Nearly 90 people, including five South Koreans, had been wounded, officials said.

Inside the badly damaged Raja restaurant and bar in Kuta Beach, a popular eatery, blood was spattered on the floor. Shattered glass from other shops and cafes littered the street.

People were crying and looked shocked, television pictures showed. Wounded Indonesian victims sat on the pavement, while foreigners appeared to be in panic.

Yudhoyono said it was too soon to blame anyone for the attacks, which security experts said bore the hallmarks of Jemaah Islamiah, a network seen as the regional arm of al-Qaeda.

Police have blamed Jemaah Islamiah for a series of attacks against Western targets in the world's most populous Muslim nation in recent years, including the 2002 Bali blasts, which also took place on a Saturday night. They have launched roughly one major attack each year since then.

"This is clearly a terrorist act ... We will catch the perpetrators and punish them," Yudhoyono told an impromptu news conference in Jakarta, adding he would go to Bali on Sunday.

The attacks pile on the problems for the former general, who marks his first year in office on October 20.

Yudhoyono is also battling an outbreak of deadly bird flu and protests over sharp hikes in domestic fuel prices.

He noted that in July he had received information of an impending attack, with explosives ready to be detonated, but said that information showed the target would be Jakarta.