News Digest

Two killed, many injured in Xinjiang explosions

Multiple explosions in a county in China’s western region of Xinjiang have killed at least two people and injured many others, regional authorities said Monday. The Tianshan news portal reported that the explosions happened at 5 p.m. Sunday in at least three locations in Luntai county, including a shopping area. The portal is run by the regional branch of the Communist Party. Luntai county is in central Xinjiang, 360 kilometers southwest of the capital Urumqi. The brief statement said the unspecified number of injured had been taken to hospital and an investigation was under way.

Public security officers quickly handled the situation.

A statement by regional authorities in Xinjiang

The blasts came as China punished 17 regional officials and police for “being accountable for” a July 28 attack that led to almost 100 deaths of police, officials and civilians, and for the subsequent killing of a pro-Beijing imam. The government has blamed a surge in violence over the last year in Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, on extremists who want an independent state called East Turkestan.