At least 18 dead in Uygur attack in China’s Xinjiang region, says US-based Radio Free Asia
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 24 June, 2015, 5:29pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 24 June, 2015, 9:09pm
Reuters
Chinese soldiers carry out a combat drill in the restive Xinjiang region. File photo: Xinhua
At least 18 people are dead after ethnic Uygurs attacked police with knives and bombs at a traffic checkpoint in China’s western Xinjiang region, Radio Free Asia reported on Wednesday.
The attack occurred on Monday in a district of the southern city of Kashgar, where tensions between Muslim Uygurs that call the region home and the majority Han Chinese have led to bloodshed in recent years.
Suspects killed several police officers with knives and bombs after speeding through a traffic checkpoint in a car in Kashgar’s Tahtakoruk district, the US-based Radio Free Asia said, citing Turghun Memet, an officer at a nearby police station.
Armed police responded to the attack and killed 15 suspects “designated as terrorists”, Radio Free Asia quoted Memet as saying.
The attack comes at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan – a sensitive time in Xinjiang after an increase in attacks over the past three years in which hundreds of people have died, blamed by Beijing on Islamist militants.
Repeated calls to the Xinjiang government news office were not answered.
Such incidents are frequently reported in overseas media, but not confirmed by the Chinese government until days later, if ever.
Exiled Uygur groups and human rights activists say repressive government policies in Xinjiang, including controls on Islam and on Uygur culture, have provoked unrest – a claim that Beijing denies.
