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Suicide Bombing Wounds Three at Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan

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Investigators, Interior Ministry officers and members of security forces gather near the site of a bomb blast outside China's embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, August 30, 2016.
Investigators, Interior Ministry officers and members of security forces gather near the site of a bomb blast outside China's embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, August 30, 2016.

A suicide bomber crashed a car into a gate at the Chinese embassy in the capital of Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday in an attack that injured three people.

Kyrgyzstan's Prime Minister Zhenish Razakov said the blast in Bishkek killed only the bomber and that the injured were Kyrgyz employees at the site. The country's interior ministry labeled it a terrorist attack.

The explosion left a plume of smoke rising from the embassy compound and photos posted on social media showed debris strewn across the grounds.

China condemned what it called a "violent and extreme act." Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters the government urged authorities in Kyrgyzstan to launch a thorough investigation and punish whoever was responsible.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Kyrgyzstan has routinely detained people as part of what authorities described as efforts to disrupt Islamic State activities in the country.

A general view shows China's embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, August 30, 2016.
A general view shows China's embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, August 30, 2016.

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