The Chinese Foreign Ministry said evidence suggested terrorist groups may have been involved in a series of attacks that killed dozens of people in Xinjiang.
State-run media have described the attackers as “terrorists,” but officials said it was too early to determine whether they were connected to militant organizations.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) said on Wednesday: “As to the recent terrorist attacks and whether they have any links with the terrorist forces, there is some evidence showing that behind these attacks there might be East Turkestan forces.”
Qin did not elaborate on what evidence might link the attackers to terrorist groups.
Other officials have said, however, that some of the weapons used in the attacks were similar to those they allege were found in raids last year on a training base of a group called the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.
However, some analysts were skeptical about the claims that terror groups were involved.
Yitzhak Shichor, a political scientist at the University of Haifa in Israel, said China effectively crushed the terror networks within its borders in the 1990s.
The recent assaults “are not the kind of coordinated terror attacks that are being orchestrated by some kind of organization inside or outside of China,” Shichor said. “It seems like individual acts of revenge.”
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The violence began on Aug. 4 in Kashgar, near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan. Two men stole a truck and rammed it into a group of police on their morning jog. The men continued the attack with homemade bombs and knives, killing 16 police.
Six days later, bombers struck in Kuqa, reportedly killing two.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS