Posted on 08/09/2008 5:53:33 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BEIJING (AFP) - At least two people died early Sunday in a series of explosions in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang, state media said, in an attack that eyewitnesses said was followed by gunfire.
The report did not say who was responsible for the blasts which came little more than a day after the start of the Olympics in Beijing.
Uighur separatists in Xinjiang have in video statements threatened to attack the sporting event and Chinese authorities have also warned that "terrorists" from home and abroad pose a massive threat to the Games.
The blasts on Sunday occurred between 3:20 am (1920 GMT) and 4:00 am (2000 GMT) in Kuqa, a large town in southern Xinjiang, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Police have cordoned off the area where the explosions occurred, witnesses said and the military has moved in to intervene, according to the report which said the incident was followed by flashes of fire and sporadic gunshots.
Kuqa has a population of about 400,000 and is located about 740 kilometres (460 miles) from Urumqi, the regional capital of Muslim-majority Xinjiang, where 16 policemen were killed in a suspected terrorist attack on August 4.
In what was one of the deadliest attacks in China in years, a lorry targeted 70 police officers jogging near their barracks in the region's Kashgar city, raising security fears just four days before the start of the Olympics.
Chinese authorities Friday announced that they had stepped up controls on religious figures and potential "trouble-makers" in Kashgar, to guard against such incidents.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
This may be of interest, folks.
Nothing to see here...
Chinese police patrol the main square in Xinjiang's famed Silk Road city of Kashgar on August 8, 2008. At least two people died early Sunday in a series of explosions in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang, state media said, in an attack that eyewitnesses said was followed by gunfire. (AFP/File/Peter Parks)
We had bombings in Atlanta, remember? It can and does happen anywhere.
That is true, good point.
The Olympics has been used before for political statements by groups claiming one or another grievance for their cause.
I attempted to post this article about “One American killed, one injured in Beijing,” but for some reason it did not post. At any rate, here is the link:
Whoops...
That’s not suppose to happen...
China is a peaceful, crimefree, tranquil country...
Yes it is. Thanks for the ping.
Terrible that someone would set a bomb knowing that a child and other innocents would be killed. Do they snicker and laugh as they are setting it
Are you talking about FR. Of course no bombs but lots of protest
For them, murder is a sacrement
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