'Deadly blasts' in China's restive Xinjiang region

Two people have been killed and others hurt in a series of blasts in China's Xinjiang region, the BBC reported, citing Chinese media.

A local Communist Party news site said the blasts took place on Sunday in at least three locations in Luntai county.

Xinjiang has seen rising tensions between the local Muslim Uighur population and Han Chinese settlers.

Violence has increased in recent months, with deadly attacks on civilians in Urumqi and the southern city of Kunming.

In July, dozens were killed and injured in violence at police and government buildings near the city of Kashgar.

Two days later, the imam of a mosque in Kashgar, the largest mosque in China, was killed in an apparent targeted attack.

The Tianshan news portal said the latest explosions hit around 17:00 local time on Sunday (09:00 GMT).

The site said injured people had been taken to hospital and "local social order" had been restored, without giving further details.

Earlier on Sunday, state media had reported that 17 police officers and officials had been punished over the two incidents in July, though did not specify how.