The incidents took place in several locations in the city center including one around the market square after 4 p.m. local time.
Police have asked people to avoid going to the city center. Eyewitnesses told local media that a man of foreign extraction used a large knife indiscriminately.
A citizen living in the area told Xinhua that several men waved big knives while shouting. Some attackers were said to be at large.
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WASHINGTON, June 30 (Xinhua) -- A private meeting early this week between former U.S. President Bill Clinton and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch had provoked bipartisan disapproval and concerns about a potential conflict of interests while Hillary Clinton was still under federal investigation.
The 30-minute private meeting happened on Monday night at the Phoenix International Airport in Arizona, and was described later by Lynch as "primarily social."
"Our conversation was a great deal about his grandchildren. It was primarily social and about our travels. He mentioned golf he played in Phoenix," said Lynch at a news conference in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday.
Lynch insisted that no discussions were made about the undergoing federal investigation into Mrs. Clinton's exclusive use of a private e-mail setup during her stint as U.S. secretary of state.
However, her assurance had so far failed to abate concerns of Clintons' critics about a potential conflict of interests in the federal investigation into Mrs. Clinton.
"In light of the apparent conflict of interests, I have called repeatedly on Attorney General Lynch to appoint a special counsel to ensure the investigation is as far from politics as possible," said John Cornyn, the No.2 Republican in the U.S. Senate in a statement on Thursday.
"This incident does nothing to instill confidence in the American people that her department can fully and fairly conduct this investigation, and that's why a special counsel is needed now more than ever," said the statement.
Response from Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for the U.S. 2016 election, was not as measured as Cornyn's.
Calling the impromptu chat between Mr. Clinton and Lynch a "sneak" meeting, Trump said in an interview with local media that the incident exposed the rigged nature of the process.
Even some Democrats had frowned at the private meeting.
"I do agree with you that it doesn't send the right signal," said Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware in an interview with CNN. "I think she should have steered clear, even of a brief, casual, social meeting with the former president."
White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Thursday defended the impartiality and record of independence of Lynch during her 30-year career in law enforcement, saying that U.S. President Barack Obama and Lynch understood "how important it is" for the investigations to be "free of political interference."
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U.S. House Democrats issue own Benghazi report to defend Hillary Clinton
WASHINGTON, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The Democrats on the House Select Committee on Benghazi on Monday released their own report to refute accusations by the Republicans against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her role in a 2012 terror attack.
The House Democrats said they issued the 339-page report because it is "long past time" for the Republican-led select committee investigating the terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya in 2012 to conclude its work. Full story
U.S. Democrat Bernie Sanders says to vote for his rival Hillary Clinton to beat Donald Trump -- TV network
WASHINGTON, June 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democrat candidate Bernie Sanders said Friday that he will vote for the party's presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in November, saying stopping Donald Trump from becoming president must be an overarching goal.
Asked on the MSNBC's Morning Joe program whether he would vote for Clinton in November, the Vermont Senator answered "Yes".