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| Attack Kills More Than 30 in Western China Market | Attack Kills More Than 30 in Western China Market |
| (4 months later) | |
| URUMQI, China — Assailants driving two sport utility vehicles and tossing explosive devices plowed through a crowded vegetable market on Thursday in this city, the capital of the Xinjiang region in far western China, killing 31 people and wounding 94. It was the single deadliest attack here since ethnic bloodletting claimed hundreds of lives five years ago. | |
| The assault, the latest in a spate of violence across China that the authorities have attributed to Islamic extremists, highlights the growing challenge to Beijing in the vast borderlands that are home to China’s ethnic Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking, predominantly Muslim minority whose members are increasingly unhappy with the government’s policies in the region. | The assault, the latest in a spate of violence across China that the authorities have attributed to Islamic extremists, highlights the growing challenge to Beijing in the vast borderlands that are home to China’s ethnic Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking, predominantly Muslim minority whose members are increasingly unhappy with the government’s policies in the region. |
| An attack on April 30 killed three people at a train station after President Xi Jinping had just concluded a visit to the city that was aimed at bolstering ethnic unity and demonstrating the government’s resolve against separatist violence. | An attack on April 30 killed three people at a train station after President Xi Jinping had just concluded a visit to the city that was aimed at bolstering ethnic unity and demonstrating the government’s resolve against separatist violence. |
| Shortly after the bloodshed on Thursday, Mr. Xi “pledged to severely punish terrorists and spare no efforts in maintaining stability,” the state-run Xinhua news service reported. | Shortly after the bloodshed on Thursday, Mr. Xi “pledged to severely punish terrorists and spare no efforts in maintaining stability,” the state-run Xinhua news service reported. |
| According to witnesses and state news media reports, the vehicles crashed through metal barriers at an open-air market in the Shayibake District at 7:50 a.m., striking shoppers as the assailants lobbed explosives. Witnesses said that the vehicles appeared to have come from opposite ends of the street and that the drivers sought to kill as many people as possible, running over several victims more than once. | According to witnesses and state news media reports, the vehicles crashed through metal barriers at an open-air market in the Shayibake District at 7:50 a.m., striking shoppers as the assailants lobbed explosives. Witnesses said that the vehicles appeared to have come from opposite ends of the street and that the drivers sought to kill as many people as possible, running over several victims more than once. |
| Aygul, who works at a convenience store around the corner from the market, said she heard as many as a dozen explosions as she was preparing to begin her shift. When she ran outside, bloody bodies and crushed vegetables were strewed over the street, and the air was thick with acrid smoke. “It was mostly old women,” said Aygul, who gave only her first name. “A lot of them weren’t moving.” | Aygul, who works at a convenience store around the corner from the market, said she heard as many as a dozen explosions as she was preparing to begin her shift. When she ran outside, bloody bodies and crushed vegetables were strewed over the street, and the air was thick with acrid smoke. “It was mostly old women,” said Aygul, who gave only her first name. “A lot of them weren’t moving.” |
| Photos that circulated on the Internet showed a body lying in the street and a wall of flames and thick smoke in the distance. Some of the more graphic images were later removed by censors. | Photos that circulated on the Internet showed a body lying in the street and a wall of flames and thick smoke in the distance. Some of the more graphic images were later removed by censors. |
| According to a police bulletin released late Thursday, investigators are hunting for two Uighur men in their late 20s who reportedly escaped during the chaos and were later seen on a public bus. | According to a police bulletin released late Thursday, investigators are hunting for two Uighur men in their late 20s who reportedly escaped during the chaos and were later seen on a public bus. |
| Although no one claimed responsibility for the attack, the government has put the blame for previous assaults on Islamic extremists that it says are affiliated with militant groups outside China. Some analysts have raised doubts about such assertions, citing a lack of evidence and noting that earlier attacks lacked the hallmarks of organized jihadist groups. | Although no one claimed responsibility for the attack, the government has put the blame for previous assaults on Islamic extremists that it says are affiliated with militant groups outside China. Some analysts have raised doubts about such assertions, citing a lack of evidence and noting that earlier attacks lacked the hallmarks of organized jihadist groups. |
| The sophistication of the assault on Thursday suggested an escalation in the campaign against Chinese control in Xinjiang. Previous violence in the region involved crude and haphazardly planned attacks on soldiers or police stations, with assailants wielding knives and, in some cases, gasoline bombs. | The sophistication of the assault on Thursday suggested an escalation in the campaign against Chinese control in Xinjiang. Previous violence in the region involved crude and haphazardly planned attacks on soldiers or police stations, with assailants wielding knives and, in some cases, gasoline bombs. |
| Many Uighurs complain of increasingly heavy-handed policies that they say restrict religious practices and favor the Mandarin language over Uighur in schools and employment. The central government disputes such assertions, saying their policies respect Uighur traditions. | Many Uighurs complain of increasingly heavy-handed policies that they say restrict religious practices and favor the Mandarin language over Uighur in schools and employment. The central government disputes such assertions, saying their policies respect Uighur traditions. |
| Tensions will probably mount in the coming weeks: July 5 is the fifth anniversary of the ethnic rioting here that left at least 200 dead, most of them Han, although an unknown number of Uighurs also died in a spasm of revenge killings in the days that followed. | Tensions will probably mount in the coming weeks: July 5 is the fifth anniversary of the ethnic rioting here that left at least 200 dead, most of them Han, although an unknown number of Uighurs also died in a spasm of revenge killings in the days that followed. |
| Yang Shu, the director of the Institute for Central Asian Studies at Lanzhou University, said China was likely to experience continued attacks from Uighur militants, despite the government’s efforts to extinguish the threat. | Yang Shu, the director of the Institute for Central Asian Studies at Lanzhou University, said China was likely to experience continued attacks from Uighur militants, despite the government’s efforts to extinguish the threat. |
| “Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, the countries of North Africa, all of them regard Islamist extremism as a major social threat, but none have been able to get rid of it,” Mr. Yang said. | “Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, the countries of North Africa, all of them regard Islamist extremism as a major social threat, but none have been able to get rid of it,” Mr. Yang said. |
| In China, he added, the divisions between Han and Uighur make the challenge that much more daunting. “For Islamist extremists in China, there’s also this issue of ethnic identity, and that adds to the extremist hatred,” he said. | In China, he added, the divisions between Han and Uighur make the challenge that much more daunting. “For Islamist extremists in China, there’s also this issue of ethnic identity, and that adds to the extremist hatred,” he said. |
| By Thursday night, police cars and security vehicles, their lights flashing, lined the block on North Park Street where the attack had taken place, and nearly every storefront was shuttered. Passers-by who tried to take pictures of the scene had their phones confiscated and the images deleted by the police. | By Thursday night, police cars and security vehicles, their lights flashing, lined the block on North Park Street where the attack had taken place, and nearly every storefront was shuttered. Passers-by who tried to take pictures of the scene had their phones confiscated and the images deleted by the police. |
| After heavy rain chased away the curious, a pair of Han men carrying votive candles and a bouquet of plastic chrysanthemums placed them on the sidewalk. “We just wanted to show our respect for the dead, and our yearning for stability,” one of the men said. No sooner had he lit the candles than three police officers with assault rifles arrived to shoo them away. With the men down the block, one of the policemen blew out the candles, gathered everything up and tossed it in the trash. | After heavy rain chased away the curious, a pair of Han men carrying votive candles and a bouquet of plastic chrysanthemums placed them on the sidewalk. “We just wanted to show our respect for the dead, and our yearning for stability,” one of the men said. No sooner had he lit the candles than three police officers with assault rifles arrived to shoo them away. With the men down the block, one of the policemen blew out the candles, gathered everything up and tossed it in the trash. |