3 security staff killed in attack

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-8-13  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THREE security staff were killed and another injured yesterday in an attack at a road checkpoint near Kashi City in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The attack occurred about 9am in Yamanya Town of Shule County, according to county police.

The number of attackers, who last night were still at large, was not available.

The four security officers were stabbed by an assailant who jumped from a vehicle passing by the checkpoint.

The town is about 30 kilometers away from Kashi City, where a raid on border police on August 4 left 16 policemen dead and 16 others injured.

No evidence has been found suggesting a connection between the two incidents.

Meanwhile, the tourism industry in Kuqa, Xinjiang, would suffer after a string of bomb blasts, an official said yesterday.

County head Yusufujiang Memet said at a media briefing that the attacks on Sunday could harm the fledgling tourist industry in the mostly Uygur county, which hosted 850,000 visitors from home and abroad last year.

Explosions occurred in the early hours of Sunday in supermarkets, hotels and government buildings, killing a security guard and injuring two police, two civilians and another security guard.

A Uygur man who was injured in the bombings died in hospital on Monday.

Eight attackers were shot dead by police, while two others died in suicide bombings. Police arrested two and were searching for three others.