North China blasts kill 1, injure 8

The Japan news ^ | 11/6/2013 | AP via The Japan News

[VanShuyten]

One person was killed and eight injured in a series of small explosions Wednesday outside the provincial headquarters of the ruling Communist Party in the northern Chinese city of Taiyuan, officials said.

The blasts bore the hallmark of a revenge attack by a disgruntled citizen of the type that occasionally takes place around China. Assailants angered at perceived injustices have blown up public buses, stabbed officials and attacked schools.

However, security forces are also on edge over an attack in Beijing last week in which three people drove through crowds to Tiananmen Gate before setting their vehicle alight. The attack killed five people, including those inside the vehicle, and two tourists, and has been blamed on Muslim extremist separatists from the restive Xinjiang region.

[VanShuyten]

It's unknown if the bombers were terrorists or people just mad at the Communist Party or local officials. The bomb itself had lots of shrapnel in it, so whoever did it meant business.

[Zhang Fei]

Abortion-related rampage from the 90's.

[rjbemsha]

The South China Morning Post has a photo of some of the shrapnel.

[Zhang Fei]

The South China Morning Post has a photo of some of the shrapnel.

Way too big. Based on press accounts of other bombings, the bomber would have been better off using assorted nuts and bolts from the hardware store - ubiquitous and hard to trace. The victims are lucky that the bomber was either unwilling or unable to research his bomb design on the internet, perhaps understandably, given the heavily-monitored nature of the Chinese internet.