At Least 16 Killed in Latest Violence in Xinjiang

Pt, 12/16/2013 - 12:07 -- Kanat
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At least 16 people have been killed in riots near the Silk Road city of Kashgar in the latest deadly violence in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang, state media reported on Monday.
 
Fourteen "terrorists" and two police officers died in the "violent" clashes in Kashgar's Konasheher (in Chinese, Shufu) county on Sunday, the reports said, as the authorities stepped up security in the area.
 
Two people have been detained and an investigation has been launched after a "violent terror gang" attacked police with explosives as they tried to apprehend a "criminal" suspects, according to the reports. The identities of the victims could not be immediately confirmed. 
 
In recent months, dozens of ethnic minority Uyghurs accused of terrorism have been shot dead in lightning raids in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. 
 
But rights groups and experts say Beijing exaggerates the terrorism threat to take the heat off domestic policies that cause unrest or to justify the authorities' use of force against Uyghurs.
 
Uyghur exile groups particularly have questioned the Chinese government's accounts of violent incidents in the Xinjiang region, saying Uyghurs who were killed may have been victims of "extrajudicial killings." 
 
Xinjiang is home to some 10 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs who say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination and oppressive religious controls under Beijing’s policies, blaming the problems partly on the influx of Han Chinese into the region. 
 
'True face of terror'
 
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing in Beijing on Monday that the latest violence in Xinjiang "showed the true face of violent terror." 
 
"It should be condemned by all people who love peace and stability," Hus said.
 
"This conspiracy does not enjoy popular support and is doomed to failure," Hua said, confirming an initial report on the violence on the state-controlled regional news website Tianshan.
 
Police were trying to detain "criminal suspects" in Konasheher's Saybag (in Chinese, Sayibage) village when they were set upon by a "mob" that threw explosives and attacked them with knives, Tianshan reported.
 
"Police responded decisively," the government said in a brief statement, while the official Xinhua news agency said "terrorists" were responsible, but gave no further details.
 
"It's very dangerous," a Han Chinese resident of Konasheher told RFA's Mandarin Service on Monday. "There were real guns and real bullets."
 
Security patrols
 
An employee who answered the phone at the local electricity station said police had stepped up security patrols in the wake of Sunday's incident.
 
"There are a lot more police on the streets now," the employee said. "They are carrying guns and there are very tight security checks, both Han Chinese and Uyghurs."
 
"They are pulling over vehicles large and small for security checks, very strict checks," he added. "Everyone here at work is talking about this incident."
 
Schools in the area had been ordered to step up security measures in the wake of the clashes, according to the principal of Konasheher's Zhongxin Elementary School.
 
"The education bureau had a meeting and told us all to make sure our basic security was in place," the principal said.
 
An official who answered the phone at the Konasheher county government declined to comment, however.
 
"I can't answer questions like that," the official said. "You'll have to ask the police."
 
Calls to the county police department went unanswered during office hours on Monday.
 
Reported by Xin Lin for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
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