Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200807/20080710/article_366290.htm
Uygur suspects on a 'holy war'
Created: 2008-7-10 2:05:50
THE suspects whom police either killed or arrested in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Tuesday were from a "holy war" training group, local officials confirmed yesterday.
Xinjiang police raided a hideout in an apartment on Tuanjie Road in the regional capital of Urumqi on Tuesday afternoon, shooting and killing five suspects, injuring two and seizing another eight, a spokesman with the city's public security bureau said.
The 15-member group, all Uygurs, consisted of five women and 10 men. They wielded knives and threatened to "die together" when cornered, the spokesman said.
The policemen had been searching for three men in the group after they were suspected to have stabbed and seriously wounded a Han woman at an Urumqi beauty salon on May 23.
Video footage from the beauty salon and clues provided by the victim and witnesses enabled police to identify the suspects and their whereabouts.
When 15 policemen surrounded the apartment where the suspects were hiding, they found themselves face to face with 15 knife-wielding Uygurs, all shouting "sacrifice for Allah," the spokesman said.
After police used tear gas on the apartment, a roomful of people tried to break out, waving knives and injuring one policeman, he said.
"The policemen were then forced to open fire, killing five on the spot and injuring two," he said.
"The injured were sent to hospital and the other eight people were captured."
More than 30 knives were found in the apartment.
The suspects confessed they had all received training on the launching of a "holy war." Their aim was to kill Han people, the most populous ethnic group in China whom they believed to be heretics.
Xinjiang police raided a hideout in an apartment on Tuanjie Road in the regional capital of Urumqi on Tuesday afternoon, shooting and killing five suspects, injuring two and seizing another eight, a spokesman with the city's public security bureau said.
The 15-member group, all Uygurs, consisted of five women and 10 men. They wielded knives and threatened to "die together" when cornered, the spokesman said.
The policemen had been searching for three men in the group after they were suspected to have stabbed and seriously wounded a Han woman at an Urumqi beauty salon on May 23.
Video footage from the beauty salon and clues provided by the victim and witnesses enabled police to identify the suspects and their whereabouts.
When 15 policemen surrounded the apartment where the suspects were hiding, they found themselves face to face with 15 knife-wielding Uygurs, all shouting "sacrifice for Allah," the spokesman said.
After police used tear gas on the apartment, a roomful of people tried to break out, waving knives and injuring one policeman, he said.
"The policemen were then forced to open fire, killing five on the spot and injuring two," he said.
"The injured were sent to hospital and the other eight people were captured."
More than 30 knives were found in the apartment.
The suspects confessed they had all received training on the launching of a "holy war." Their aim was to kill Han people, the most populous ethnic group in China whom they believed to be heretics.
Xinhua
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