Beijing: Three persons were killed on Wednesday and 79 others injured in a “violent terrorist attack” at a railway station in Urumqi, capital of China’s Muslim-majority Xinjiang province, as President Xi Jinping wrapped up his first-ever visit to the troubled region, vowing to fight terrorism. In a daring attack, knife-wielding mobs slashed people at the exit of the South Railway Station of Urumqi and set off explosives, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing initial investigation. Three persons were killed and 79 others injured.
The attack was similar to the knife attacks carried by East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) from Xinjiang at the Kunming railway station in March in which 33 people were killed and 143 injured. ETIM is fighting for the independence of Xinjiang from China. Xinjiang was restive for the past several years due to ethnic conflict between native Muslim Uygurs and Han Chienese settlers.
Xi, who was in Urmuqi on the last day of his four-day tour – the first after he took over as President last year – called for “decisive actions” against violent terrorist attacks. “The battle to combat violence and terrorism will not allow even a moment of slackness, and decisive actions must be taken to resolutely suppress the terrorists’ rampant momentum,” Xi said.
He demanded profound awareness of the Xinjiang separatist forces and noted that the anti-separatism battle in Xinjiang is long-term, complicated and acute. Also, Xi has ordered all-out efforts of local authorities to rescue and treat the injured as well as prompt investigation to solve the case and punish the criminals. The social stability should be properly ensured, Xi said, adding that measures should be taken to safeguard the security of people of all ethnic groups and the order of their normal life and work. The serious terrorist attack occurred at around 7:10 pm, with an explosion in the area between the station exit and a bus stop on BRT route 1. Some luggage and damaged motorcycles were left at the scene. A vendor told Xinhua that he heard two huge sounds of blast. “The explosion was so powerful that I thought it was an earthquake,” another man said. Resource-rich Xinjiang has witnessed a spurt in attacks by Islamic militants in recent years as province experienced ethnic tensions between native Uygur Muslims and Han Chinese settlers from other provinces.
The injured were sent to Xinjiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and Xinjiang People’s Hospital, both about four kilometres from the station, according to the railway station police.
Four persons were seriously injured in the attack but were “in a stable condition” after being sent to hospital for treatment, Xinhua reported, citing local Communist Party officials. (Agencies)
Bombing shows new level of militant daring, organisation
URUMQI: A bombing in western China that killed three people and wounded 79 has raised concerns about the apparent sophistication and daring of the attack, possibly timed to coincide with a visit to the heavily Muslim region by President Xi Jinping.
On Thursday, dozens of black police vans were parked around the station, while camouflaged police with assault rifles patrolled its entrance. Despite the security, the station was bustling and appeared to be operating normally.
The government blamed the attack on ‘terrorists’, a term it uses to describe Islamist militants and separatists in Xinjiang who have waged a sometimes violent campaign for an independent East Turkestan state – a campaign that has stirred fears that jihadist groups could become active in western China. Initial accounts of the attack came almost exclusively from Chinese state media, which did not say if any of the attackers had been killed or captured. Nor did they say if Xi, who was wrapping up his visit, was anywhere near Urumqi at the time.
Pan Zhiping, a retired expert on Central Asia at Xinjiang’s Academy of Social Science, described the attack as very well organised, saying it was timed to coincide with Xi’s visit.
‘It is very clear that they are challenging the Chinese government,’ he said.
‘There was a time last year when they were targeting the public security bureau, the police stations and the troops. Now it’s indiscriminate – terrorist activities are conducted in places where people gather the most.’ There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack. But the language used by the government to describe the incident, with the reference to the assailants as ‘terrorists’, implies that it was carried out by Uighurs, the Muslim people who call Xinjiang home, many of whom chafe at government controls on their culture and religion. Nicholas Bequelin, a senior researcher at New York-based Human Rights Watch who closely follows developments in Xinjiang, called the attack ‘an unprecedented act of defiance from Uighurs who oppose the Chinese state’.
The attack was the first bombing in Urumqi since bombs on buses killed nine people in 1997. It was also the largest militant attack there since the government blamed Uighurs for stabbing hundreds of Han Chinese with needles in 2009. (Reuters)