Terrorists using homemade bombs carried out a series of
explosions and fought with police Sunday in a western Chinese city far from the
Beijing Olympics where local Muslims have rebelled against Chinese rule. According
to police, ten attackers and one security guard died.
The rampage in the restless Muslim region of Xinjiang came in
spite of strengthened security for the games and followed threats launched by
an al-Qaida-linked militant Islamic faction to disturb the sporting event.
Sunday's attack and an assault on border police on Aug. 4 leaving
16 officers dead indicated a powerful violence increase in the region.
Police reported that ''violent terrorists'' assaulted a
shopping center, hotel and government offices in the city of Kuqa
in west central Xinjiang.
According to the police statement, officers killed eight terrorists
and another two blew themselves up. Two were arrested and three attackers were
at large, it said.
In a report, the state-run Xinhua News agency gave details
about the bombs saying they were made from bent pipes, gas canisters and liquid
gas tanks.
One of the largest strikes implicated attackers who drove a
three-wheeled vehicle with explosives into the compound of the public security
bureau at about 2:30 a.m., Xinhua
reported. An explosion followed killing the security guard, injuring two police
officers and two civilians, and destroying two police cars.
Police started shooting at the attackers and killed one.
Another blew himself up, harming a third, and a fourth was caught in the
assault, Xinhua said, citing an unidentified local government representative.
According to Xinhua News agency, six hours later, a fight
broke out in a nearby market where police spotted five attackers hiding under a
counter. The men tossed bombs at police, who shot for dead two of them, while
the remaining three committed suicide with their own bombs.
The apprehended suspect told police 15 people were responsible
for the attack, Xinhua said.
After the bombings, all institutions and enterprises in the
area, which is about 740
kilometers from the regional capital of Urumqi,
were ordered to close.
A few taxis were still on the streets, but passengers had to
go through security checks and questioning before taking them, and the movement
of private vehicles was tightly restricted in and out of the county.
Police refused to confirm the Xinhua account or make any
comments on the inconsistencies between the report and the official news release.
Wang Wei, vice president of the Beijing Olympic Organizing
Committee, qualified the attacks the work of ''East Turkestan
terrorists'' - the name some separatists use for Xinjiang - and said no
government would tolerate such brutality.
''The very purpose of these attacks is all about separating
the region from China,''
Wang told reporters. He said the attackers ''want to use the Olympic stage to
enlarge the impact.''
Authorities isolated Kuqa county, a region 1,740 miles west of Beijing
where around 400,000 people live, for most of the day. Soldiers with machine
guns patrolled the streets and people were told not to leave their homes.
