'Peaceful protest' claims denied
By Staff Reporter |
July 21, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
XINJIANG confirmed yesterday that 14 terrorists were shot dead by police and another four arrested in an attack on a police station in the autonomous region's Hotan City but said claims that police shot at peaceful demonstrators were "sheer nonsense."
A paramilitary officer, an Armed Police officer and two hostages also died in the Monday attack.
The incident was an organized "terror attack targeting the police station," Xinhua news agency said, citing Hou Hanmin, director of the region's publicity department.
An 18-member mob, armed with explosive devices, molotov cocktails and knives, first entered the offices of business administration and tax authorities, injuring two people, Zhou said.
Realizing they had hit the wrong target, the rioters then stormed the nearby police station at around noon.
The men stabbed a security guard at the gate and took several hostages. Two women were stabbed to death.
The paramilitary officer was killed by a bomb the attackers set off, Hou said.
After the mob reached the second floor of the building, they spread out a flag promoting separatism, Xinhua said.
Police reinforcements arrived and, in a stand-off, 14 of the attackers were shot dead and four detained, Hou said. The situation was under control by 1:30pm.
The group had arrived in Hotan last Saturday, Hou said.
They had several dozen different weapons with them, including cleavers, axes and switchblades, and went to a local market to buy other knives and materials to make molotov cocktails and bombs.
A Germany-based Uygur separatist group claimed that the violence erupted when more than 100 Uygurs gathered to "protest a police crackdown" in the city.
They were "staging a peaceful demonstration" and demanding to know the status of missing relatives who they believed were in police custody, said the group.
Hou called that account "sheer nonsense." "There was no so-called peaceful protest at all," she said.
A paramilitary officer, an Armed Police officer and two hostages also died in the Monday attack.
The incident was an organized "terror attack targeting the police station," Xinhua news agency said, citing Hou Hanmin, director of the region's publicity department.
An 18-member mob, armed with explosive devices, molotov cocktails and knives, first entered the offices of business administration and tax authorities, injuring two people, Zhou said.
Realizing they had hit the wrong target, the rioters then stormed the nearby police station at around noon.
The men stabbed a security guard at the gate and took several hostages. Two women were stabbed to death.
The paramilitary officer was killed by a bomb the attackers set off, Hou said.
After the mob reached the second floor of the building, they spread out a flag promoting separatism, Xinhua said.
Police reinforcements arrived and, in a stand-off, 14 of the attackers were shot dead and four detained, Hou said. The situation was under control by 1:30pm.
The group had arrived in Hotan last Saturday, Hou said.
They had several dozen different weapons with them, including cleavers, axes and switchblades, and went to a local market to buy other knives and materials to make molotov cocktails and bombs.
A Germany-based Uygur separatist group claimed that the violence erupted when more than 100 Uygurs gathered to "protest a police crackdown" in the city.
They were "staging a peaceful demonstration" and demanding to know the status of missing relatives who they believed were in police custody, said the group.
Hou called that account "sheer nonsense." "There was no so-called peaceful protest at all," she said.
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