6 Farmers Killed in Attack in Xinjiang

The New York Times

14 July 2014

In the latest outbreak of violence in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, assailants have stabbed to death six ethnic Han farmers in a late-night spate of home invasions that appear to be part of a slow-burn effort to sow terror among migrants to the region, Radio Free Asia reported on Monday.

Like most recent incidents of ethnic bloodletting, news of the attack was quickly removed from the Internet in China. But Radio Free Asia, quoting local police officials, said that seven men were involved in the killings, which took place on Wednesday in Uchturpan, known in Chinese as Wushi, a rural county in Aksu Prefecture that has been the scene of deadly clashes between the police and ethnic Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking people who are predominantly Muslim.

In the latest attack, the police shot and killed one suspected attacker and captured three other suspects, Radio Free Asia reported. A warrant that circulated on the Internet suggested that three others were still at large. The report said one of the stabbing victims, a woman, had survived.

… Rohan Gunaratna, an expert on international terrorism, said the security juggernaut being rolled out by Beijing was unlikely to have an impact on the growing number of freelance attacks that ostensibly seek to terrorise Han residents and perhaps force them to leave the region.

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Last updated on 15/07/2014