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China Attack Kills 16 Policemen

Posted on: Monday, 4 August 2008, 00:00 CDT

Grenade attacks Monday on a border patrol police station in China's northwest Xinjiang region killed 16 policemen and injured 16 more.

Two attackers driving a truck tossed two grenades causing an explosion at the station in Kashi, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The two were arrested, the report said, but there were few details about them or the attack.

Xinjiang -- close to the borders of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan -- is home to China's 8 million Turkic-speaking Uighur Muslims who resent what they see as Chinese attempt to dominate the region by encouraging the migration of ethnic Han Chinese.

Chinese authorities fear militant groups from the region may stage attacks to disrupt the Summer Olympics which start Friday in Beijing.

Chinese authorities said last month they had dismantled 12 terrorist groups so far this year in the Xinjiang Uighur region. They alleged the groups were sub-branches of transnational terrorist organizations, including the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement and Hizb-e Tahrir Organization.

Human rights groups have accused China of using its anti-terrorism campaign to put down the Muslims.

Source: United Press International

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