China on Sunday blamed Muslim militants from the restive far western region of Xinjiang for the deadly attack on Kunming railway station in the country’s Yunnan province, in which at least 33 have died so far
Four of those killed were part of the group of knife-wielding attackers who slashed mercilessly through the crowd of passengers and railway employee at a peak hour traffic time.Chinese police say they shot dead the four attackers in a response that was swift but not good enough to save many lives lost.
The attack, in the balmy southwestern city of Kunming late on Saturday evening, marks a major escalation in the simmering unrest which had centered on Xinjiang, a heavily Muslim populated region strategically located on the borders of Central Asia.
It is the first time people from Xinjiang have been blamed for carrying out such a large-scale attack so far from their homeland, and follows an incident in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in October which shook the country’s Communist leadership.
China has stepped up security in Xinjiang after a vehicle ploughed into tourists on the edge of Tiananmen Square, killing the three people in the car and two bystanders. China labeled it a suicide attack by militants from Xinjiang.
Xinjiang is home to the Muslim Uighur people, many of whom chafe at Chinese restrictions on their culture and religion.
China bristles at suggestions from exiles and rights groups that the unrest is driven more by unhappiness at government policies than by any serious threat from extremist groups who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan.
State news agency Xinhua said the train station attack, in which more than 130 were also injured, was “an organized, premeditated violent terrorist attack”.
“Evidence at the crime scene showed that the Kunming Railway Station terrorist attack was carried out by Xinjiang separatist forces,” it added, citing the Kunming government.
Police shot dead four of the attackers and detained one, Xinhua said, while approximate five others are on the run.
The total assault squad numbered between 10 and 12.
Kunming resident Yang Haifei told Xinhua that he was buying a ticket when he saw a group of people, mostly wearing black, rush into the station and start attacking bystanders.
“I saw a person come straight at me with a long knife and I ran away with everyone,” he said, adding that the attackers caught those who were slower. “They just fell on the ground.”
Graphic pictures on the Twitter-like microblogging service Sina Weibo showed bodies covered in blood lying on the ground at the station.
State television showed police wrapping a long, sword-like knife in a plastic bag, amid heavy security at the station.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered that no effort be spared to track down those behind the attack.
“Severely punish in accordance with the law the violent terrorists and resolutely crack down on those who have been swollen with arrogance,” Xinhua quoted him as saying.
“Understand the serious and complex nation of combating terrorism,” Xi said. “Go all out to maintain social stability.”
Domestic security chief Meng Jianzhu was on his way to the scene, Xinhua said.
Weibo users took to the service to describe details of what happened, though many of the posts were quickly deleted by government censors, especially those that described the attackers, two of whom were identified by some as women.
Others condemned the attack.
“No matter who, for whatever reason, or of what race, chose somewhere so crowded as a train station, and made innocent people their target – they are evil and they should go to hell,” wrote one user.
The attack comes at a sensitive time as China gears up for the annual meeting of parliament, which opens in Beijing on Wednesday and is normally accompanied by a tightening of security across the country.
Unrest in Xinjiang has killed more than 100 people in the past year, prompting authorities to toughen their stance.
Last week, the government charged a prominent Beijing-based Uighur economist, who has championed the rights of this people, with separatism.
Scores of students from Bangladesh study in educational institutions, especially medical colleges, in Yunnan provinces — some in Kunming itself and others in towns like Dali.
As China has tried to use Yunnan as its bridgehead province to develop relations with south and south-east Asian neighbours, businessmen from Bangladesh and other neighbors of China started to flock to Kunming scouting for trade opportunities.
Bangladesh’s Consulate in Kunming and local community leaders have advised all from the country to stay indoors in the provincial capital until further notice.
Consul General Shahnaz Gazi told bdnews24.com that the foreign affairs office in Yunnan had asked all the foreigners not to venture out unless there is a pressing need.
She said the foreign affairs office had confirmed that no Bangladeshi was killed or injured ‘or involved in any way’ with the incident.
The Consul General condemned the attack.
President of Bangladesh Society in China Dewan Md Sazzad Hossain cautioned all from Bangladesh to be careful in their movement.
He did not elaborate though.
Kunming had been peaceful since the twin bomb explosions in July 2008.
A total of 14 were injured in those explosions in two buses and it never became clear who were behind those bombings, though the suspicion fell on the Uighurs.
But Chinese police on Sunday blamed the Mar 1 Kunming rail station attacks on Uighur Muslim separatists who want a separate homeland called East Turkestan in the frontier province that China calls Xinjiang.
Witnesses say ten to twelve attackers stormed the station and started stabbing and hacking people indiscriminately.
They continued their attack up to the ticket counters.
The death toll has risen to 33 – 29 passengers, passers-by or railway employees and four assailants who were shot dead by police.
Over 130 more were injured in the attack, unprecedented in Yunnan.
China’s state-run Xinhua news agency said one assailant was captured and hunt was going on for the rest of the attackers.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jin Ping has urged the law-enforcing agencies to investigate the attack and make an all-out effort to put the terrorists on trial.
Xi, who is also the head of China’s National Security Commission, asked the law enforcers to crack down on all forms of terrorist activities, safeguard social stability and guarantee the safety of people’s lives and property.
Xinhua and state television station CCTV said the attack was an act of ‘terrorist assault’ by ethnic minority from the Muslim-dominated Xinjiang autonomous region.
The news of the attack broke after witnesses started to share images of the victims on Chinese social media.
Panic gripped the city following the incident. People of Bangladeshi community in Kunming were also in a state of panic.– bdnews24.com
