At least 15 dead in China violence
In this Friday, July 10, 2009 file photo, a statue of former leader Mao Zedong is seen as an Uighur man looks on in Kashgar, China. Two knife-wielding men hijacked a truck in China's restive northwest, then rammed the vehicle into a crowd and got out to attack the pedestrians, sparking clashes, a police official said Sunday, July 31, 2011. Credit: AP
BEIJING -- Weekend violence in China's restive Xinjiang region left as many as 15 people dead, including three killed during or after a bombing attack Sunday and four attackers shot dead an hour later by Chinese security forces, according to official news agency accounts and residents reached by telephone.
The violence Sunday follows an incident reported late Saturday, when two bombs exploded, and two assailants reportedly hijacked a truck, stabbing the driver and ramming the vehicle into a crowd of pedestrians, killing seven people and injuring 22.
The crowd reportedly killed one of the hijackers.
The violence occurred in the border town of Kashgar, the old Silk Road city in far Western Xinjiang near the border with Tajikistan.
Details were still emerging Sunday, but security officials blamed the upsurge of violence on "rioters," the term often used for Xinjiang's Muslim Uigher separatists who have staged mostly low-level attacks against Chinese government rule.
Residents reported Kashgar was under a strict curfew last night.
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Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
