11 wounded in central China knife attack

BEIJING - A man with a history of mental illness wounded 11 people with a knife as he attacked random pedestrians in central China, local authorities said on Thursday (Feb 21).

The suspect, a 33-year-old man named Guo Kaibin, is already in police custody, according to a social media notice posted by police in Ji'an, a city in central Jiangxi province.

Citing Guo's family, local authorities said that the attacker had a history of mental illness.

Those attacked included auxiliary police and students. None of the injuries were life-threatening and victims were receiving medical treatment, said local police. An investigation is underway.

Knife attacks are not uncommon in China, which heavily restricts access to firearms.

Earlier this month, a man who suspected his wife of committing adultery stabbed eight people to death and injured seven others in a village in the north-west province of Gansu.

Last August, six people were killed after a man went on a rampage in southern China, stabbing his girlfriend and her relatives before ramming a car into pedestrians and attacking passers-by.

And in February, a knife-wielding man motivated by personal grievances killed a woman and injured 12 others in a busy Beijing shopping mall - a rare act of violence in the heavily policed capital.

Attacks have also targeted schoolchildren in the past, forcing the authorities to increase security around schools.

In April, a knife-wielding man killed nine middle-school children and injured at least 10 others in northern China.