JNN 19 July 2011 : At least 20 protesters from China’s minority Uighur community have been killed and 70 wounded in a clash with police in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang.China’s state media, however, put the number of the killed at four, citing Monday’s clashes as “terrorist attacks” on a police station in the volatile region.
World Wee-gur Congress — an organization for exiled Muslim minorities, reported that security forces beat 14 protesters to death and shot dead six others in the city of Hotan, AFP reported on Tuesday.An exile group, however, rejected the terrorist claim, and said the violence Monday in Xinjiang’s Hotan city was a clash between ethnic Uighur protesters and police. The World Uyghur Congress said in an emailed statement that 20 Uighurs were killed and 70 detained.

Xinjiang has been beset by ethnic conflict and a sometimes-violent separatist movement by Uighurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group that sees Xinjiang as its homeland. Many Uighurs resent the Han Chinese majority as interlopers.

Xinjiang regional government spokesman Hou Hanmin said that officials were still trying to confirm the final death and injury tolls from the attack. She was quoted earlier by the state-run Global Times newspaper as saying a group of terrorists armed with grenades and carrying a flag with separatist messages stormed local government offices and a police station, taking hostages and attacking police.

At least four people—a policeman, a security guard and two hostages— were killed by the terrorists, the newspaper said. Several attackers were also killed by police, it said, but didn’t give an exact number.

A report Monday afternoon by the official Xinhua News Agency did not mention terrorism or separatism, and called the alleged attackers “thugs.”

The World Uyghur Congress said the violence erupted when more than 100 Uighurs gathered to protest a police crackdown in the city. Demonstrators gathered outside police headquarters and demanded to know the status of relatives who had allegedly gone missing into police custody. The crackdown began following deadly ethnic riots in the regional capital, Urumqi, in July 2009, the organization’s spokesman, Dilxat Raxit, said.

In 2009, 140 people were killed and 800 injured in an ethnic violence in the volatile region following a protest against government handling of a clash between China’s dominant Han group and Uighur factory workers, when two Uighurs died.

Yet, the group said the unrest was an outburst of anger by ordinary members of the Muslim ethnic minority and urged the authorities to stop what it called systematic oppression of Wee-gur Muslims.

“The Chinese authorities should immediately cease their systematic oppression to prevent a further escalation of the situation,” said Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the group.

Xinjiang province has been the scene of violent unrest in recent years due to the minority’s attacks on members of China’s dominant Han group in the regional capital Urumqi in July 2009.

The telephones of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau rang unanswered Tuesday.

Predominantly Uighur, Hotan is an oasis town of more than 115,000 in the southern part of Xinjiang, not far from the border with Pakistan.

China blames Xinjiang conflicts on what it says are violent separatists working with foreign-based groups.

It defends its treatment of minorities, saying all ethnic groups in China are treated equally and that tens of billions of dollars in investment and aid have dramatically raised living standards.

At least 20 protesters from China’s minority Uighur community have been killed and 70 wounded in a clash with police in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang.

China’s state media, however, put the number of the killed at four, citing Monday’s clashes as “terrorist attacks” on a police station in the volatile region.
World Wee-gur Congress — an organization for exiled Muslim minorities, reported that security forces beat 14 protesters to death and shot dead six others in the city of Hotan, AFP reported on Tuesday.

An exile group, however, rejected the terrorist claim, and said the violence Monday in Xinjiang’s Hotan city was a clash between ethnic Uighur protesters and police. The World Uyghur Congress said in an emailed statement that 20 Uighurs were killed and 70 detained.

Xinjiang has been beset by ethnic conflict and a sometimes-violent separatist movement by Uighurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group that sees Xinjiang as its homeland. Many Uighurs resent the Han Chinese majority as interlopers.

Xinjiang regional government spokesman Hou Hanmin said that officials were still trying to confirm the final death and injury tolls from the attack. She was quoted earlier by the state-run Global Times newspaper as saying a group of terrorists armed with grenades and carrying a flag with separatist messages stormed local government offices and a police station, taking hostages and attacking police.

At least four people—a policeman, a security guard and two hostages— were killed by the terrorists, the newspaper said. Several attackers were also killed by police, it said, but didn’t give an exact number.

A report Monday afternoon by the official Xinhua News Agency did not mention terrorism or separatism, and called the alleged attackers “thugs.”

The World Uyghur Congress said the violence erupted when more than 100 Uighurs gathered to protest a police crackdown in the city. Demonstrators gathered outside police headquarters and demanded to know the status of relatives who had allegedly gone missing into police custody. The crackdown began following deadly ethnic riots in the regional capital, Urumqi, in July 2009, the organization’s spokesman, Dilxat Raxit, said.

In 2009, 140 people were killed and 800 injured in an ethnic violence in the volatile region following a protest against government handling of a clash between China’s dominant Han group and Uighur factory workers, when two Uighurs died.

Yet, the group said the unrest was an outburst of anger by ordinary members of the Muslim ethnic minority and urged the authorities to stop what it called systematic oppression of Wee-gur Muslims.

“The Chinese authorities should immediately cease their systematic oppression to prevent a further escalation of the situation,” said Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the group.

Xinjiang province has been the scene of violent unrest in recent years due to the minority’s attacks on members of China’s dominant Han group in the regional capital Urumqi in July 2009.

The telephones of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau rang unanswered Tuesday.

Predominantly Uighur, Hotan is an oasis town of more than 115,000 in the southern part of Xinjiang, not far from the border with Pakistan.

China blames Xinjiang conflicts on what it says are violent separatists working with foreign-based groups.

It defends its treatment of minorities, saying all ethnic groups in China are treated equally and that tens of billions of dollars in investment and aid have dramatically raised living standards.