Chinese police in Xinjiang kill 17, including women and children, in revenge attack

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China has maintained tight security in Xinjiang amid fears of Uighur separatism. (Photo courtesy: AFP)
China has maintained tight security in Xinjiang amid fears of Uighur separatism. (Photo courtesy: AFP)

(TibetanReview.net, Nov19, 2015) – Chinese security forces in Xinjiang (East Turkestan) have killed 17 people, including women and children, from three families in a revenge attack, accusing them of being involved in an attack at a coal mine that had left at least 50 dead, reported Radio Free Asia (RFA, Washington) Nov 17.

The report cited China’s Ministry of Public Security as announcing in a Nov 14 statement, published on its website, that the action was a “great victory in the War on Terror.”

RFA said the announcement was removed shortly after it was posted, that it did not link the alleged “terrorists” to a specific act. The revenge operation appeared to have been launched in the aftermath of a Sep 18 attack at the Sogan Colliery in Aksu (Chinese: Akesu) prefecture’s Bay (Baicheng) County.

RFA said the Sep 18 attack, which was not reported in Chinese media, occurred when a group of knife-wielding suspects set upon security guards at the gate of the mine in Terek Township before targeting the owner’s residence and a dormitory for workers. When police arrived, the attackers rammed their vehicles, using trucks loaded down with coal, leading to at least five officers being killed, including a local police chief.

Following the attack, authorities launched a manhunt for 17 suspects, consisting of the three men believed to have been behind the incident—Tursun Jume, 46; Musa Toxtiniyaz, 47; and Memet Eysa, 60, from Chokatal Meadow, in Bay’s Kanchi Township—as well as their family members. The report added that four of the suspects were women while three were children.

The report cited police officers from Bay County as confirming to RFA’s Uyghur Service that “all of the terrorists,” including the seven women and children, had been killed in a raid.

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