PRAGUE - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned Friday's hotel bombing in Jakarta and said the United States is prepared to provide assistance if requested by the Indonesian government.

"Our sympathies go out to the victims of these tragic attacks, their families, and the people and government of Indonesia," Clinton said during a refueling stop in Prague. She's starting a weeklong foreign trip to India and Thailand.

Authorities believe the explosions that ripped through two luxury hotels in Jakarta, ending a four-year lull in terror attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation, were the work of bombers who had been staying in the hotels as guests. Eight people were killed and at least 50 others were injured. At least 18 foreigners were among the dead and wounded.

The blasts were at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, which are located side-by-side in an upscale business district in the capital.

A State Department spokesman in Washington, Noel Clay, said several Americans were injured.

Clinton condemned the attacks as reflecting "the viciousness of violent extremists" and said they "remind us that the threat of terrorism remains very real."

"We have no higher priority than confronting this threat along with other countries that share our commitment to a more peaceful and prosperous future," she said in a statement.

Clinton said the State Department is working to help American citizens injured in the blasts.

By ROBERT BURNS, Associated Press, July 17, 2009