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| Security Forces Said to Have Killed 12 in Raid in Western China | Security Forces Said to Have Killed 12 in Raid in Western China |
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| BEIJING — Security forces in China’s far western Xinjiang region last month shot and killed at least 12 men and wounded 20 others during a raid on what the authorities described as a terrorist facility, Radio Free Asia reported Wednesday. | BEIJING — Security forces in China’s far western Xinjiang region last month shot and killed at least 12 men and wounded 20 others during a raid on what the authorities described as a terrorist facility, Radio Free Asia reported Wednesday. |
| The killings took place more than three weeks ago in a small village near the city of Kashgar, but details emerged only in recent days. Local officials told Radio Free Asia that the men had been building and testing explosives at a desert encampment in the village, Jigdejay; local police officers, reached by telephone Wednesday, declined to comment or said they knew nothing about the raid. | |
| The raid comes at a time of escalating tension between the Chinese authorities and the region’s ethnic Uighurs, a Muslim, Turkic-speaking people who have long complained of restrictive policies they say are aimed at curtailing their language and religious practices. Since June, at least 100 people have been killed during clashes in the oasis towns and cities that hug the vast Taklamakan Desert in southern Xinjiang, home to the majority of China’s nine million Uighurs. | The raid comes at a time of escalating tension between the Chinese authorities and the region’s ethnic Uighurs, a Muslim, Turkic-speaking people who have long complained of restrictive policies they say are aimed at curtailing their language and religious practices. Since June, at least 100 people have been killed during clashes in the oasis towns and cities that hug the vast Taklamakan Desert in southern Xinjiang, home to the majority of China’s nine million Uighurs. |
| Although some of the violence has involved Uighurs’ attacking Han Chinese in what analysts describe as improvised acts of ethnic bloodletting, exile groups and human rights organizations say much of the bloodshed has resulted from harsh police tactics against protests and unauthorized religious gatherings. Chinese officials usually describe the same incidents as acts of terrorism by “separatists” or religious extremists, although they rarely provide details or evidence to back up these claims. | |
| As with much of the recent violence in Xinjiang, the Chinese state media did not cover the raid on Aug. 23 in Jigdejay, and many of the details remained murky. Local officials and residents told Radio Free Asia that dozens of armed police officers swarmed a covert munitions center where about 30 men had gathered. | As with much of the recent violence in Xinjiang, the Chinese state media did not cover the raid on Aug. 23 in Jigdejay, and many of the details remained murky. Local officials and residents told Radio Free Asia that dozens of armed police officers swarmed a covert munitions center where about 30 men had gathered. |
| One resident said the police were tipped off to the presence of the encampment after a rocket launcher the men were trying to build accidentally exploded, killing one of them. “They were hiding inside there and practicing how to make some sort of explosives,” Yasin Ahun-Karim, a local religious leader, told Radio Free Asia, which is financed by the American government. “Their activities were discovered by a police helicopter, and police acted immediately to clean up the place.” | One resident said the police were tipped off to the presence of the encampment after a rocket launcher the men were trying to build accidentally exploded, killing one of them. “They were hiding inside there and practicing how to make some sort of explosives,” Yasin Ahun-Karim, a local religious leader, told Radio Free Asia, which is financed by the American government. “Their activities were discovered by a police helicopter, and police acted immediately to clean up the place.” |
| Another resident who witnessed the raid said the dead were buried on the spot. | Another resident who witnessed the raid said the dead were buried on the spot. |
| The raid on the desert encampment followed another deadly raid three days earlier in nearby Yilkiqi township, where at least 15 Uighur men were shot and killed as they prayed together. The authorities described the dead as terrorists engaged in “illegal religious activities” and said they were training for an attack, although the only weapons recovered at the scene were knives and axes. | The raid on the desert encampment followed another deadly raid three days earlier in nearby Yilkiqi township, where at least 15 Uighur men were shot and killed as they prayed together. The authorities described the dead as terrorists engaged in “illegal religious activities” and said they were training for an attack, although the only weapons recovered at the scene were knives and axes. |
| In recent weeks, the authorities have been announcing stiff sentences for those arrested during the latest spate of unrest. Last week, three Uighur men were sentenced to death for their role in a bloody clash in Lukchun township last spring that left as many as 46 people dead. In August, two other men were given the death penalty for another clash near Kashgar that killed at least 21 people. | In recent weeks, the authorities have been announcing stiff sentences for those arrested during the latest spate of unrest. Last week, three Uighur men were sentenced to death for their role in a bloody clash in Lukchun township last spring that left as many as 46 people dead. In August, two other men were given the death penalty for another clash near Kashgar that killed at least 21 people. |
Patrick Zuo contributed research. | Patrick Zuo contributed research. |