"Terrorist" attack in an Urumqi market: 31 dead
Beijing (AsiaNews ) - At least 31 people have been killed in bomb explosions in an outdoor market in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang province . About 90 people were injured.
According to witnesses, two cars arrived in the middle of
the market towards 7.50 this morning, launching five bombs among the people
that stood near the stalls and groups of elderly people having breakfast in street
restaurants.
A series of photos posted on Weibo show bodies and people bleeding, boxes of
fruit, tables and clothes on strewn on the ground.
The Ministry of Public Security has called the incident
"a serious and violent terrorist attack".
For years, Xinjiang, a region inhabited by the Uyghur people of Muslim faith
and Turkish origin, has been rocked by riots and tensions. The Uyghurs accuse
Beijing of wanting to colonize them and demand greater autonomy. The government
- which has transferred millions of ethnic Han Chinese settlers to Xinjiang - and
the Army blame Uyghur of separatism and Islamic terrorism. To quell the
violence, the government makes liberal use of the death penalty and suppresses
the religious freedom of Muslim communities .
This is the latest in a series of attacks in Urumqi. At
the end of April there was an attack on the main railway station, in
which some terrorists threw grenades and wielded knives, injuring 79 people .
Three people died, including two of the attackers. The violence took place just
a few hours after the end of President Xi Jinping 's visit to the region.
In recent months there have been attacks with bombs and knives in Guangzhou and
Kunming, which the government blames on Islamic separatists in Xinjiang.
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