Chinese security forces have launched a two-month “strike hard” crackdown against violence, terrorism and radical Islam following renewed ethnic violence in Xinjiang, the regional government said yesterday.
The campaign began on Thursday and will last through Oct. 15, and includes around-the-clock patrols of trouble spots, identity checks and street searches of people and vehicles, according to a notice on the regional government’s Web site.
Authorities will step up investigations of suspicious activity and deal with defendants even more harshly through accelerated trials, the notice said.
“Public security units at all levels across the region must strengthen the work of security, take strict precautions, and create fear and awe,” the statement said.
The crackdown follows new outbreaks of violence blamed on militants among Xinjiang’s Uighur population. At least three dozen people, including the attackers, were killed in three attacks in the cities of Hotan and Kashgar, despite a massive security presence that was tightened following a major anti-Chinese riot in Urumqi two years ago in which at least 197 people were killed.
Beijing blames the violence on militants based overseas, specifically ones from the East Turkistan Islamic Movement who it says trained in militant camps in Pakistan. It has provided no direct evidence to back up its claims.
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