Assailants using homemade bombs launched a series of attacks and engaged police in a deadly battle yesterday in a western Chinese city far from the Beijing Olympics, state media said. At least seven attackers and one security guard were killed.
The pre-dawn violence in the restive Muslim region of Xinjiang came despite tightened security for the Games and followed threats by an al-Qaeda-linked militant Islamic group to disrupt the sporting event.
Xinhua news agency, citing local police, said one explosions occurred at government buildings in Kuqa County in the early hours yesterday. Xinhua described the attackers as suicide bombers who used devices made from bent pipes, gas canisters and liquid gas tanks.
In what appeared to be the largest attack, Xinhua said assailants drove a three-wheeled vehicle carrying explosives into the compound of the public security bureau at about 2:30am. An explosion followed that killed a security guard, injured two police and two civilians, and destroyed two police cars.
Police opened fire on the attackers, killing one. Another blew himself up, injuring a third, and a fourth was captured, Xinhua said, citing an unidentified local government spokesman.
Six hours later, a battle broke out in a nearby market where police found five attackers hiding under a counter, Xinhua said. The men hurled bombs at the police, who fatally shot two of them, while the remaining three killed themselves with their own bombs, the news agency said.
Xinhua said the captured suspect told police that 15 people were involved in the attack. Police also seized a taxi used by the bombers, it said.
The already-tight security in Xinjiang was increased in the past week after assailants killed 16 border police and wounded 16 others in Kashgar on Aug. 4.
The attacks mark a dramatic increase in violence in Xinjiang, where local Muslims have waged a sputtering rebellion against Chinese rule.
Wang Wei (王偉), vice president of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, called the attacks the work of “East Turkestan terrorists” — the name some separatists use for Xinjiang — and said no government would tolerate such violence.
“The very purpose of these attacks is all about separating the region from China,” Wang told reporters.
Authorities shut down Kuqa County, a region 2,800km west of Beijing where some 400,000 people live, for most of the day. Soldiers with machine guns patrolled the streets and people were told not to leave their homes. A Foreign Ministry official in Beijing, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the restrictions were akin to martial law.
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