181 terror groups smashed in first year of ‘Strike Hard’ campaign
Print Edition
A CAMPAIGN against terrorism in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has seen 181 terror groups busted, authorities said yesterday, a year after the “Strike Hard” initiative was launched.
Police began the campaign after 39 people were killed last May in a market attack blamed on separatists in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang.
Scores of people have been sentenced to death as part of the drive, while hundreds have been jailed or detained on terror-related offences.
“As of April 30 this year, 181 violent terror gangs have been destroyed, with 96.2 percent being thwarted at the planning phase,” the Xinjiang government’s Tianshan web portal reported, adding that 112 suspects had surrendered to the police.
More than 200 people died last year in violence either in or traced back to Xinjiang.
Among the most shocking incidents was a deadly rampage by knife-wielding assailants at a train station in Kunming, capital of the southwestern province of Yunnan, when 31 people were killed.
Three men convicted on terror charges were executed in March this year for their part in the attack.
In addition to terror activities, police have also clamped down on religious extremism and video and audio clips propagating terrorism, as well as intensified crackdowns on illegal border crossings.
According to official figures, only 8.7 percent of verdicts in terror cases in Xinjiang’s courts over the past year were appealed by defendants, significantly lower than the proportion among the region’s ordinary criminal cases.
Residents from all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have constituted an important force in fighting terrorism, with police solving 81 terror cases based on tip-offs during the campaign.
In early August last year, more than 30,000 volunteers helped local police chase suspects in Karakax County. Local authorities later promised more than 300 million yuan (US$48 million) in cash rewards to those who helped hunt suspected terrorists.
In another typical case in Kashgar, where police officers quickly solved a terror case in January this year, relatives of a terrorist suspect reported clues to the police and local residents volunteered to help track the suspect by setting up checkpoints and conducting household surveys.
Auxiliary police officer Eli Ismail died fighting a terrorist attack in Baicheng County in February. His grieving father, however, gave full support to a different son’s dream to be a policeman.
“If he dies too, I’ll fight myself,” the father said.
To weaken the impact of religious extremism, local authorities have vigorously promoted “modern living” in the region. For example, they have encouraged Uygur women to abandon the burqa, an Islamic garment that covers women’s faces, and instead wear their colorful traditional dress.
The regional legislature has approved a regulation banning the wearing of the burqa in public places in Urumqi.
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