China blames Muslim extremists trained in Pakistan for recent violence
David Wivell, Associated Press, 01 August 2011
URUMQI, CHINA—China on Monday blamed Muslim extremists trained in Pakistan for launching one of two deadly weekend attacks in a troubled far western region, while overseas activists feared the government could respond by cracking down on ethnic Uighurs widely blamed for the unrest.
Sunday’s attack left 11 dead, including five suspected assailants, in the Silk Road city of Kashgar. Authorities have not pinpointed suspects behind clashes a day earlier in the city that killed seven, including one of two men who allegedly hijacked a truck and rammed it into a crowd.
The weekend violence raised tensions across the Xinjiang region on China’s western frontier, which has been under tight security since 2009 when almost 200 people were killed in fighting between Han Chinese and minority Uighurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group that sees Xinjiang as its homeland.
The German-based World Uyghur Congress said it feared the violence could prompt a government crackdown on Uighurs still blamed for the unrest two years ago.
Kashgar issued warrants and offered $16,000 (U.S.) for information leading to the arrest of two Uighur suspects allegedly seen fleeing the scene of Sunday’s attack. The city said a “group of armed terrorists” had stormed a restaurant and killed the owner and a waiter before setting fire to the building.
The suspects then ran out into the street and stabbed civilians at random, killing another four people and injuring 12, the city said. Police fired at the suspects, killing four on the scene while a fifth died later in a hospital.
The city said Monday an initial investigation showed members of the group allegedly behind Sunday’s attack had been trained in explosives and firearms in Pakistani camps run by the banned East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a militant group advocating independence for Xinjiang. It offered no proof in the statement on its website. China says the group is allied with Al Qaeda.
Pakistan, a key ally to China, condemned the violence and offered support in combating the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.
Xinjiang region has been beset by ethnic conflict and a sometimes-violent separatist movement by Uighurs, who say they have been marginalized as more majority Han Chinese move into the region.
The Communist Party secretary of Xinjiang held an emergency meeting in Urumqi after the attacks and ordered a crackdown on religious extremism and “illegal religious activities,” the official Xinhua News Agency said.
China defends its treatment of minorities, saying all ethnic groups are treated equally and that tens of billions of dollars in investment and aid have dramatically raised living standards.