Religious extremists blamed for killings
Source: Agencies |
August 2, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
Religious extremists trained in Pakistan have been blamed for the killing of six civilians in an attack in China's far-western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region where police fatally shot five suspects.
Two other suspects were shot last night to raise the death toll to 22 from weekend violence in the Silk Road city of Kashgar.
The government of Kashgar City said in an online statement that an initial investigation showed the heads of the group behind Sunday's attack had trained in explosives and firearms in neighboring Pakistan in camps belonging to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a banned terrorist organization allied with al-Qaida.
On Sunday, the group of armed terrorists stormed into a restaurant in Kashgar city center, killing the owner and a waiter and setting the restaurant on fire, the city government said.
The attackers then ran out of the restaurant and stabbed civilians indiscriminately, leaving another four people dead and 15 injured, including three policemen, it said.
Police opened fire and shot dead four suspects at the scene, while another died later in a hospital.
Two other suspects were shot and killed by police in the city last night. The Kashgar government had earlier issued arrest warrants for 29-year-old Memtieli Tiliwaldi and 34-year-old Turson Hasan, both local ethnic Uygurs.
The police had offered 100,000 yuan (US$15,542) for information leading to their arrest.
Sunday's attack was the second in Kashgar over the weekend. On Saturday night, two people hijacked a truck after killing the driver and drove into crowds. The suspects then jumped out of the truck and hacked random bystanders.
Seven civilians were killed while 27 others were injured. One of the suspects was killed in the clash while the other was apprehended.
The top Communist Party official in Xinjiang, Zhang Chunxian, announced a crackdown on religious extremism and vowed harsh punishment for those guilty of attacks.
"People in Xinjiang should stay vigilant and recognize that terrorist attackers are the common enemies of all ethnic groups," Zhang said.
Pakistan condemned the violence and offered support in combating the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. A Foreign Ministry statement said it was "fully confident" the people of the Xinjiang autonomous region and the Chinese government "will succeed in frustrating evil designs of the terrorists, extremists and separatists, who constitute an evil force."
Two other suspects were shot last night to raise the death toll to 22 from weekend violence in the Silk Road city of Kashgar.
The government of Kashgar City said in an online statement that an initial investigation showed the heads of the group behind Sunday's attack had trained in explosives and firearms in neighboring Pakistan in camps belonging to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a banned terrorist organization allied with al-Qaida.
On Sunday, the group of armed terrorists stormed into a restaurant in Kashgar city center, killing the owner and a waiter and setting the restaurant on fire, the city government said.
The attackers then ran out of the restaurant and stabbed civilians indiscriminately, leaving another four people dead and 15 injured, including three policemen, it said.
Police opened fire and shot dead four suspects at the scene, while another died later in a hospital.
Two other suspects were shot and killed by police in the city last night. The Kashgar government had earlier issued arrest warrants for 29-year-old Memtieli Tiliwaldi and 34-year-old Turson Hasan, both local ethnic Uygurs.
The police had offered 100,000 yuan (US$15,542) for information leading to their arrest.
Sunday's attack was the second in Kashgar over the weekend. On Saturday night, two people hijacked a truck after killing the driver and drove into crowds. The suspects then jumped out of the truck and hacked random bystanders.
Seven civilians were killed while 27 others were injured. One of the suspects was killed in the clash while the other was apprehended.
The top Communist Party official in Xinjiang, Zhang Chunxian, announced a crackdown on religious extremism and vowed harsh punishment for those guilty of attacks.
"People in Xinjiang should stay vigilant and recognize that terrorist attackers are the common enemies of all ethnic groups," Zhang said.
Pakistan condemned the violence and offered support in combating the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. A Foreign Ministry statement said it was "fully confident" the people of the Xinjiang autonomous region and the Chinese government "will succeed in frustrating evil designs of the terrorists, extremists and separatists, who constitute an evil force."
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