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BEIJING: Violent clashes left several people dead after rioters attacked a police station in China's restive province of Xingjian. At least four people were killed by the rioters while the police gunned down "several rioters", the official media reported on Monday quoting police sources.
The rioters took several people hostage during the attack on the police station in Hotan town in Xingjian. This is the first major case of rioters taking hostages in China's western region bordering Pakistan, which is a major source of Islamic militants. Unconfirmed reports said police had managed to free six hostages by challenging the rioters.
The police said rioters broke into the police station Monday afternoon and "assaulted the police, took hostages and set fire to the station." Two hostages, a member of the armed police and a security officer were killed in the attack, while another security official was severely injured, said Xinhua. It added the police "shot a number of rioters" while freeing the hostages.
The cause of the clashes is still not known but there are signs that the attack on the police station is related to the separatist movement of East Turkmenistan being conducted by a section of Uighur Muslims in Xingjian.
The Uighur militants attacked a police station killing 16 constables and officers in 2008. This was followed by clashes between Uighurs and the majority Han community in July 2009 that left 197 dead.
Last August, they detonated an explosive in a group of paramilitary officers resulting in the death of seven people in the city of Aksu. Xinhua said the national counter-terrorism office has despatched "a working team" to the region.
Western news agencies add that overseas Uighur activist group said the violence stemmed from illegal land seizure, followed by protests against it.and that more than 100 Uighurs had gathered to demonstrate against alleged illegal land seizure and to demand information about their kinsmen who they said had disappeared amid police crackdown in Uruqmi, Xingjian's capital, in 2009.
Xinjiang erupts again, many killed - The Times of India
The rioters took several people hostage during the attack on the police station in Hotan town in Xingjian. This is the first major case of rioters taking hostages in China's western region bordering Pakistan, which is a major source of Islamic militants. Unconfirmed reports said police had managed to free six hostages by challenging the rioters.
The police said rioters broke into the police station Monday afternoon and "assaulted the police, took hostages and set fire to the station." Two hostages, a member of the armed police and a security officer were killed in the attack, while another security official was severely injured, said Xinhua. It added the police "shot a number of rioters" while freeing the hostages.
The cause of the clashes is still not known but there are signs that the attack on the police station is related to the separatist movement of East Turkmenistan being conducted by a section of Uighur Muslims in Xingjian.
The Uighur militants attacked a police station killing 16 constables and officers in 2008. This was followed by clashes between Uighurs and the majority Han community in July 2009 that left 197 dead.
Last August, they detonated an explosive in a group of paramilitary officers resulting in the death of seven people in the city of Aksu. Xinhua said the national counter-terrorism office has despatched "a working team" to the region.
Western news agencies add that overseas Uighur activist group said the violence stemmed from illegal land seizure, followed by protests against it.and that more than 100 Uighurs had gathered to demonstrate against alleged illegal land seizure and to demand information about their kinsmen who they said had disappeared amid police crackdown in Uruqmi, Xingjian's capital, in 2009.
Xinjiang erupts again, many killed - The Times of India
