Monday 22 September 2014

'Deadly blasts' in China's restive Xinjiang region

A local Communist Party news site said the blasts took place on Sunday in at
least three locations in Luntai county.
Xinjiang has seen rising tensions between the local Muslim Uighur population
and Han Chinese settlers.
Violence has increased in recent months, with deadly attacks on civilians in
Urumqi and the southern city of Kunming.
In July, dozens were killed and injured in violence at police and government
buildings near the city of Kashgar.
Two days later, the imam of a mosque in Kashgar, the largest mosque in China,
was killed in an apparent targeted attack.

'Order restored

The Tianshan news portal said the latest explosions hit around 17:00 local time
on Sunday (09:00 GMT).
The site said injured people had been taken to hospital and "local social order"
had been restored, without giving further details.
Earlier on Sunday, state media had reported that 17 police officers and officials
had been punished over the two incidents in July, though did not specify how.
Uighur academic Ilham Tohti is awaiting a verdict in his trial for separatism.

The July violence near Kashgar, in Yarkant county, left 96 people dead, state
media said.
State media say police shot 59 attackers after an armed group stormed
government offices, killing 37 civilians. Activists say police opened fire on
people protesting against a Ramadan crackdown on Muslims.
China blames the unrest on Uighur separatists inspired by overseas terror
groups, but activists say Beijing's repressive policies in the region are fuelling
violence.
Earlier this month, a prominent Uighur academic who had been critical of
Beijing's policies in Xinjiang went on trial accused of separatism.
Mr Tohti, who denies the charges, was detained in January. He had condemned
the government's response to a suicide attack in Beijing's Tiananmen Square
carried out by three Uighurs last year.
His two-day trial finished last week and the verdict is expected to be delivered
soon.
The United Nations, the EU and US have all called for his release.

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