Beijing (
AsiaNews / Agencies ) - At least 16 people were killed in a violent clash near
Kashgar . The
news was reported today by Tianshan.net, the official website of the Xinjiang government.
Two
of those killed were policemen, while the other 14 are defined as "violent
thugs" . According
to the site, the police were looking for criminal suspects in Shufu County,
when they were attacked by "thugs " armed with explosives and knives
.
While
the police were trying to arrest one of the suspects, the
"terrorists" went into action.
Two of the
attackers were arrested.
Xinjiang is a very
restless region. The
Uyghur population that inhabits it, Turkic speaking and Muslim, accuses Beijing
of wanting to colonize them with a massive migration of Han Chinese and with
stringent military and economic control.
Uyghur
groups are fighting for the independence of the region they call "East
Turkestan ." China
accuses them of being terrorists and keeps strict control of Islamic schools
and religious practice .
Last
October , a
car bomb exploded in Tiananmen Square, killing five people . According
to Beijing, the incident was a Uyghur "terrorist attack" .