Chinese police shot dead four Uighurs
World Bulletin, 10 March 2012
Chinese police have shot dead four people in Muslim Uighur region claiming they were suspected of making bombs, Radio Free Asia reported on Saturday.
Chinese police have shot dead four people in Muslim Uighur region claiming they were suspected of making bombs, Radio Free Asia reported on Saturday.
The pre-dawn raid on a farmhouse took place on Thursday after a man was injured while making a bomb at home, which raised suspicions, the U.S.-based broadcaster quoted local police as saying.
Twenty-one people were detained by police in Thursday’s raid in the region what China calls “Xinjiang” but Uighurs say “East Turkestan”.
In January, authorities said that seven people killed by police in Xinjiang had been trying to leave the country.
In July 2009, Uighurs rioted against Han Chinese residents in Urumqi, the regional capital after an attack in a Chinese factory. At least 197 people were killed the conflict, according to official estimates.
China courts in September sentenced four Muslim Uighurs to death for violence in two cities over the summer in which 32 people were killed.
The government blamed the incidents in Kashgar and Hotan — both in the majority Uighur southern part of Xinjiang — on pro-independence people who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan for their people.
China’s ruling Communist Party says it protects freedom of religion, but it maintains a tight grip on religious activities and allows only officially recognised religious institutions to operate.