One killed in China after series of 'small explosions'

One person was killed and eight were injured in the northern Chinese city of Taiyuan after a series of explosions outside the city's Communist Party Headquarters, state media and officials reported.

The explosions occurred on Wednesday at 7:40 A.M. China time, according to a message posted to the local law enforcement's page on Twitter-like social media site Sina Weibo.

"Law enforcement is using its full force to crack the case," the message read.

State news agency Xinhua reported the deaths and injuries a few hours after the attack.

Xinhua's original post on its Chinese-language website was deleted moments after it was published.

The agency later reported that authorities suspected someone had detonated homemade bombs in the attack.

Last Monday, a car crashed in front of the portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong at Tiananmen Square – a symbol of the ruling Communist Party – killed five and injured 40.

Dru Gladney, a Xinjiang expert and professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California said the crash did not appear to be an organized attack.

"This incident in Beijing doesn't look like a well-orchestrated terrorist attack, but it looks like the acts of an individual," Gladney told Al Jazeera.

Chinese authorities have announced that the car was driven by an ethnic Uighur, whom officials have said was part of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), what they have called a terrorist organization.

Authorities have yet to offer any details on potential motives or suspects in Wednesday's attack.

Al Jazeera