Chinese Police Shoot And Kill 14 "Terrorists" In The Country's Muslim Region
On 15 December 2013, Chinese police shot and killed 14 people in Kashgar, a city in the Northwest Muslim region of China, claiming they were terrorists.
By Esther Chung — 17 Dec 2013, 05:54 PM — Updated almost 11 years ago
A Chinese Newspaper Reported That Two Policemen Were Attacked And Killed By A Mob In Kashgar
The attackers killed two policemen late Sunday when police were arresting "criminal suspects" in a township near the Silk Road city of Kashgar, reported Tianshan, a local government news portal.
npr.orgAccording to government reports on its official news portal Tianshan, police were attacked by a mob throwing explosive devices and wielding knives when they went to arrest “criminal suspects” in a village near the old Silk Road city of Kashgar.
topinfopost.com
The Chinese Police Then Responded By Shooting Down 14 People
Chinese police shot and killed 14 people during a riot near the old Silk Road city of Kashgar in which two policemen were also killed, the regional government said on Monday, in the latest incident of unrest in the far western region.
telegraph.co.ukPolice "decisively handled" the attack, shooting the assailants, the government said.
usatoday.com
A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said "within the law." Hua Chunying said assailants "used explosive devices to attack police officers" and attacked them with knives.
Kashgar Is An Old Silk Road City In Xinjiang With A Population Made Up Of Mostly Muslim Uighurs
Kashgar is an ancient Silk Road oasis in Xinjiang, northwest of China.
Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur minority group, sees sporadic clashes.
Uighurs are ethnically Turkic Muslims and they make up about 45% of the region's population.
Those Who Were Shot Were Terrorists Who Spread "Extremist Religious Ideology", Says The Chinese Government
The report said that the group watched terrorist videos, spread "extremist religious ideology", prepared explosive devices and home-made guns, and plotted terrorist activity.
usatoday.com
"It once again showed the true face of violent terror. It should be condemned by all people who love peace and stability,’’ said spokeswoman Hua Hunying.
It Is Believed That The Mob Attack Is Related To The Tiananmen Square Attack That Happened In October
Uighurs are suspected in a terror attack at Tiananmen Square in October that killed five people.
usatoday.com
China has stepped up security in Xinjiang after a vehicle ploughed into tourists on the edge of Beijing's Tiananmen Square in October, killing the three people in the car and two bystanders.
telegraph.co.ukTensions between the government and the Uighur people came to the forefront after the government accused "jihadists" of a deadly car crash that killed two tourists and injured 40 others in Tiananmen Square in October.
npr.org
Uighur Activist Says That The Chinese Government Is Giving A False Account Of The Shooting Incident
Dilxat Rexit, a spokesman based in Sweden for the World Uyghur Congress, disputed the Chinese government’s account and said the clash broke out when the Peoples’ Armed Police, a paramilitary group, went to break up a gathering of Uighurs at a home.
"They are now opening fire and killing people, then calling them terrorists," Dilxat Raxit, the Sweden-based spokesman for the exiled World Uyghur Congress, told the Associated Press. "This deprives them of their right to defend themselves in a court."
usatoday.com
“The local government is opposed to Uighurs gathering,’’ Rexit said. “The government at least used to arrest Uighurs and put them on trial and they had some chance of surviving. Now it’s obvious -- they just shoot them on the spot.”
The Uighurs experience discrimination in China due to their religion and ethnicity.
Image via americanprogress.org
