'Devices' explode outside Communist provincial HQ in China, say police

'Devices' explode outside Communist provincial HQ in China, say police

BEIJING: A series of devices exploded outside a provincial headquarters of China's ruling Communist Party on Wednesday, police said.

"There were several explosions caused by small explosive devices near the party provincial commission in Taiyuan," the capital of the northern province of Shanxi, local police said on a verified social media account.

According to the police statement, one person was wounded and two cars were damaged.

"Public security officials are currently on the scene and working all-out to investigate the incident," it added.

Pictures posted on China's weibo social networks showed several fire engines on a road, which had been blocked to traffic, and a large crowd on one side of the street.

The blasts come a little over one week after a car barrelled into Beijing's Tiananmen Square, killing two tourists and injuring dozens, with the three people inside dying after they set the vehicle on fire.

Authorities termed that incident a "terrorist attack" and have said that it was carried out by several people with links to a separatist group known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement from China's far-western Xinjiang region, home to the mostly Muslim Uighur minority.

The latest incident comes ahead of a highly anticipated meeting of top party leaders in Beijing this weekend, at which broad economic reforms are among the items expected to be on the agenda.

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