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12-08-08, 06:31
Three killed in renewed violence in China's far west
Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:44am EDT
BEIJING (Reuters) - Three security officers were stabbed to death and another wounded in renewed violence in far northwest China's Xinjiang region on Tuesday, the fourth day of the Olympic Games in Beijing, state media said.
China has blamed two earlier attacks in the restive area more than 3,000 km (1,860 miles) from the capital on Muslim separatists seeking to disrupt the Games.
An assailant jumped off a vehicle passing a road checkpoint about 30 km (18 miles) from Kashgar and stabbed the officers, Xinhua news agency said.
It was the same area where 16 police were killed in a bombing and stabbing attack just over a week ago but there was no evidence linking the two, Xinhua said.
Police are searching for suspects after a Sunday attack in Kuqa, in the south of Xinjiang, where 11 were killed in a series of supermarket bombings.
China says militants seeking an independent "East Turkestan" homeland for Muslim Uighurs in the region are among the top threats to the Olympics, which began on Friday.
But the government has tended to downplay the attacks in the Chinese press. Tuesday's attack was initially reported by Xinhua only in English.
Xinjiang is home to the majority Muslim Uighur people, who chafe under Chinese rule. Uighurs make up just under half of Xinjiang's 20 million people.
(Reporting by Lucy Hornby and Edwin Chan; Editing by Nick Macfie)
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSPEK9954420080812
Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:44am EDT
BEIJING (Reuters) - Three security officers were stabbed to death and another wounded in renewed violence in far northwest China's Xinjiang region on Tuesday, the fourth day of the Olympic Games in Beijing, state media said.
China has blamed two earlier attacks in the restive area more than 3,000 km (1,860 miles) from the capital on Muslim separatists seeking to disrupt the Games.
An assailant jumped off a vehicle passing a road checkpoint about 30 km (18 miles) from Kashgar and stabbed the officers, Xinhua news agency said.
It was the same area where 16 police were killed in a bombing and stabbing attack just over a week ago but there was no evidence linking the two, Xinhua said.
Police are searching for suspects after a Sunday attack in Kuqa, in the south of Xinjiang, where 11 were killed in a series of supermarket bombings.
China says militants seeking an independent "East Turkestan" homeland for Muslim Uighurs in the region are among the top threats to the Olympics, which began on Friday.
But the government has tended to downplay the attacks in the Chinese press. Tuesday's attack was initially reported by Xinhua only in English.
Xinjiang is home to the majority Muslim Uighur people, who chafe under Chinese rule. Uighurs make up just under half of Xinjiang's 20 million people.
(Reporting by Lucy Hornby and Edwin Chan; Editing by Nick Macfie)
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSPEK9954420080812