China: Uyghur Islamic Radicals Kill Two In Bomb Blasts

According to China’s state-media, two were killed and many more injured on Sunday when Uyghur Islamic radicals bombed an area in the country’s western region of Xinjiang, Reuters reports. The state-press report added that hundreds of innocent Chinese citizens have been killed over the past year. The report was short on many details. “At present, all the injured have been sent to hospital for full treatment, local social order is normal, and the cases are being investigated,” the report said.

The alleged terror attacks comes following an announcement over the weekend that China is holding responsible seventeen police officials for a July 28 attack that killed over 100. The police, county, and local officials have also been deemed responsible for the assassination of the Imam of Xinjiang’s biggest mosque, which took place just two days after the mass-casualty attack.

Reuters reported that another Imam who was said to be a “well-known pro-government Uyghur” was also killed by Islamist militants a month prior to the attack.

Chinese officials said that 37 civilians were executed and 59 “terrorists” were subsequently killed by police during the July 28 attack. Following the attack, police detained 215 people believed to be responsible, state-run Xinhua reported.

In July, China banned the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in what was believed to be in response to the onslaught of terror attacks taking place in Xinjiang. In Both May and June, Islamists in Xinjiang committed terror attacks upon a crowded market, military barracks, and a train station, killing dozens.

The Uyghur radicals in China’s northwest are believed to be affiliated with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which seeks an islamic state in China. ETIM shares Al Qaeda’s Flag of Jihad, and has in the past fought alongside the jihadi group against the United States in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. Both the US and China list ETIM as a terrorist group.

A spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, a group who many believe is closely associated with ETIM, told Reuters: “China’s policies are leading people to adopt fierce measures of resistance to maintain their dignity and justice.” He added, “The turbulence in the region and China’s policies are directly related.”