15 People Reported Dead In China’s Western Xinjiang Region
Violence in China’s western Xinjiang region has left at least 15 people dead according to state media. Violence reportedly began on Saturday when two men killed a truck driver, then drove his truck into pedestrians and attacking them with knives, killing six of them. One of the attackers also died in the attack.
The very next day, an explosion killed three people and police shot dead “four suspects”, according to the Xinhua agency. One reason for the unrest is because Xinjiang has a Muslim Uighur minority and has seen serious ethnic tension. A local official claims that both of Saturday’s attackers were Uighurs.
This is the second serious case of violence in the region in a month. On July 18th, several police officers and a unnamed number of civilians were killed in an attack on a police station in the city of Hotan.
Uighur activists said the security forces have been provoking clashes by opening fire on a peaceful demonstrations. The majority of Xinjiang’s population is ethnically Uighur – who are Muslims with strong cultural ties to Central Asia.
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