2011 Kashgar attacks
Encyclopedia
The 2011 Kashgar attacks were a series of knife and bomb attacks in Kashgar
, Xinjiang
, China on July 30 and 31, 2011. On July 30, two Uyghur
men hijacked a truck, killed its driver, and drove into a crowd of pedestrians. They got out of the truck and stabbed six people to death and injured 27 others. One of the attackers was killed by the crowd; the other was brought into custody. On July 31, a chain of two explosions started a fire at a downtown restaurant. A group of armed Uyghur men killed two people inside of the restaurant and four people outside, injuring 15 other people. Police shot five suspects dead, detained four, and killed two others who initially escaped arrest.
The government says the attackers confessed to Jihadist
motives and membership in the terrorist group East Turkestan Islamic Movement
(ETIM), while an overseas pro-Uyghur independence group says the attackers were frustrated by a lack of options for nonviolent antigovernment protest. Businesses temporarily closed down and riot police patrolled the city until August 4. ETIM acknowledged responsibility for the attack on September 8, as well as for the attack in Hotan
earlier that same July. Six men were given prison or death sentences for their involvement in both attacks later in September.
is "one of the most volatile cities in China", near to the border with Afghanistan
and Pakistan
, and contains many cultural icons for the Chinese Muslim Uyghur minority
. The proximity of the Jihadist activity in Afghanistan and Pakistan serve as an inspiration for Uyghur extremists. Han people
form about 20% of the population and live apart from the local Uyghurs. Anthropologist Dru Gladney said that in Kashgar, "any small incident quickly overheats and boils into something much larger". From 2003 to 2006, a Xinjiang-wide "crackdown on extremism" reduced the incidence of terrorist attacks, but alienated many Uyghurs and aided extremist recruitment. In the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics in August, two Uyghur men killed 16 people in Kashgar
with a combination truck collision and stabbing.
Because Kashgar lies in a seismic zone, the city is undergoing a $1.1 billion urban renewal
plan to replace mudbrick
structures with new foundations that meet modern standards of earthquake safety and sanitation. Some Uyghurs oppose the renovations, citing the cultural value of the old buildings. Outside investment has fueled the town's economic growth of 20% since the city was designated a Special Economic Zone in 2010. However, many Uyghurs, including the suspects in the 2011 Kashgar attacks, do not have even a primary education
, and still more are not proficient in Standard Chinese
. As a result, unemployment is high and salaries are low even among Uyghurs with university degrees.
The designated terror group known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement
(ETIM), is a UK-based Pan-Islamic
group operating in Xinjiang with similar ideals to Al-Qaeda
, but with less technological capability. Since explosives are tightly controlled in Xinjiang and in the border regions, the ETIM has resorted to knife, pin prick
, and vehicular attacks against civilians and security forces to achieve its goals. Chinese HUMINT in Xinjiang is stunted by the Uyghurs' unwillingness to cooperate with police, so state security forces find difficulty in anticipating and planning for terrorist attacks. The 2011 attacks in Kashgar came on the eve of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan
and one month after Kashgar opened a railway to Hotan, a city that had been the site of violence
on July 18.
s exploded prematurely: one in a parked minivan, another on a street lined with restaurants. Three bystanders immediately died from the blasts, as well as the driver of the minivan; two suspects fled the scene. Injured people were carried out of restaurants on stretchers and police cordoned off the area. Five miles from the site of the explosions at 11:45 pm, two armed Uyghur
men hijacked a blue truck waiting at a traffic light
by stabbing its driver to death. According to the Hong Kong
-based Ming Pao
, the two hijackers were the same suspects who fled the earlier explosion. With control of the truck, they drove into a crowded sidewalk
lined with food stalls, jumped out, and started stabbing pedestrians. Eventually the crowd overpowered the attackers, beating one of them to death before police detained the other. 27 people emerged alive with injuries, while eight victims died. A tourist operator in Kashgar told The Hindu
that the police closed off several areas of the city, although residents said that the atmosphere in the city immediately afterwards was calm.
restaurant, causing a fire. The targeted restaurant was located at the end of Gourmet Food Street, a crowded street lined with restaurants and shops that are popular with Han people. As restaurantgoers tried to flee into the street, the assailants hacked at them with knives, leaving "pool[s] of blood" and overturned tables in their wake. The restaurant owner, a waiter and four patrons were killed; 12 other Han people
suffered injuries. Firefighters arrived to put out the fire and police engaged in a firefight with the armed men, shooting five but sustaining three injuries of their own. Four of the shot suspects died immediately, and another died in hospital. Another four suspects were taken into custody. Memtieli Tiliwaldi (买买提艾力·铁力瓦尔地) and Turson Hasan (吐逊·艾山), two Uyghur men who had warrants for their arrest
issued, were fatally shot by police one day later in a corn field on the outskirts of Kashgar.
ideology. Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna
said that the violence could either be "conducted or influenced by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement", although he said the movement had been weakened by Pakistani counter-terror operations
from 2003, which included ETIM leaders like Hasan Mahsum and Abdul Haq al-Turkistani being killed.
which said that "all incidents of terrorism are deplorable" and promised full cooperation with China against ETIM. Chinese president Hu Jintao
called Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari
to discuss ETIM's activities before holding the upcoming China-Eurasia Expo
in September, while the chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence
left for Beijing to address Chinese concerns. The Pakistan Army
announced that it would continue operations against ETIM, although some analysts doubt the strength of the Pakistani government in controlling terrorism. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council
issued a terror alert to travelers in Xinjiang, citing the attacks' increased seriousness above the 2011 Hotan attack
because they "targeted innocent civilians" rather than security forces.
Dilxadi Rexiti, a representative from the pro-Uyghur independence World Uyghur Congress
(WUC), explained the attacks as a matter of "Uyghurs hav[ing] no peaceful way to oppose the Chinese government so some have taken to extreme measures." He also alleged that martial law
had been declared in the city, but Reuters
reported that it was not possible to determine if an actual order for martial law had been issued. Rebiya Kadeer
, also of the WUC, said "I cannot blame the Uyghurs who carry out such attacks for they have been pushed to despair by Chinese policies." She also unfavorably compared the Chinese authorities' killing of Tiliwaldi and Hasan to the Norwegian authorities' supposed leniency towards the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks
.
blog posts from residents. Around 200 Han people protested the loss of "innocent lives" on the streets of Kashgar on August 1; most of the victims were also Han. Governor of Xinjiang Nur Bekri
visited Kashgar that same day pledging to punish the attackers, and the Kashgar and Xinjiang governments established a fund to pay for the medical treatment of survivors. Prayers at the Id Kah Mosque
proceeded as usual, where religious leaders from the Islamic Association of China characterized the attacks as un-Islamic and pledged to offer Muslims new interpretations of Islamic texts that did not lend themselves to extremism.
The Communist Party of China
hosted an emergency anti-terrorism work conference in Ürümqi
at which Zhang Chunxian
, the Xinjiang CPC party chief
, resolved to crack down on "religious extremist forces", saying that "terrorist attackers are the common enemies of all ethnic groups". Minister of Public Security
Meng Jianzhu
added that, in addition to a crackdown, the government will address the social grievances that can lead to terrorism by expanding compulsory education
and community development
efforts. Except for those closed for Ramadan, businesses in the city reopened on August 4. On August 13, the elite counterterrorist Snow Leopard Commando Unit was deployed to Hotan and Kashgar to secure the cities ahead of the China-Eurasia Expo
in September. On September 8, the US-based terrorist monitoring group SITE
reported on a video made by ETIM leader Abdul Shakoor Damla claiming responsibility for the July Hotan and Kashgar attacks on behalf of his group. Damla confirmed that one of the perpetrators shot by police, Tiliwaldi, prepared for the attacks in a ETIM training camp
in Pakistan. On September 14, the Xinjiang Legal Daily reported that six men were tried for their involvement in the Hotan and Kashgar attacks. Four were given death sentences, and two were given 19-year jail terms, for charges including "leading and organizing a terror group, manufacturing illegal explosives, intentional homicide, [and] arson". Xinjiang authorities have unveiled a package of policy responses to the attacks to placate Muslim Uyghurs, which include increasing quotas for Uyghur participation in local government and increasing government subsidies for religious schools.
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
, Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
, China on July 30 and 31, 2011. On July 30, two Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
men hijacked a truck, killed its driver, and drove into a crowd of pedestrians. They got out of the truck and stabbed six people to death and injured 27 others. One of the attackers was killed by the crowd; the other was brought into custody. On July 31, a chain of two explosions started a fire at a downtown restaurant. A group of armed Uyghur men killed two people inside of the restaurant and four people outside, injuring 15 other people. Police shot five suspects dead, detained four, and killed two others who initially escaped arrest.
The government says the attackers confessed to Jihadist
Jihadism
Jihadism is a term to describe the renewed focus on armed jihad in radical Islamic fundamentalism....
motives and membership in the terrorist group East Turkestan Islamic Movement
East Turkestan Islamic Movement
The East Turkestan Islamic Movement The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) (also known as the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), and other names; is a Waziri based mujahideen organization. Its stated goals are the independence of East Turkestan and the...
(ETIM), while an overseas pro-Uyghur independence group says the attackers were frustrated by a lack of options for nonviolent antigovernment protest. Businesses temporarily closed down and riot police patrolled the city until August 4. ETIM acknowledged responsibility for the attack on September 8, as well as for the attack in Hotan
2011 Hotan attack
The 2011 Hotan attack was a series of coordinated bomb and knife attacks that occurred in Hotan, Xinjiang, China on July 18, 2011. According to witnesses, the assailants were a group of 18 young Uyghur men who opposed the local government's campaign against the full-face Islamic veil, which had...
earlier that same July. Six men were given prison or death sentences for their involvement in both attacks later in September.
Background
KashgarKashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
is "one of the most volatile cities in China", near to the border with Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, and contains many cultural icons for the Chinese Muslim Uyghur minority
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
. The proximity of the Jihadist activity in Afghanistan and Pakistan serve as an inspiration for Uyghur extremists. Han people
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
form about 20% of the population and live apart from the local Uyghurs. Anthropologist Dru Gladney said that in Kashgar, "any small incident quickly overheats and boils into something much larger". From 2003 to 2006, a Xinjiang-wide "crackdown on extremism" reduced the incidence of terrorist attacks, but alienated many Uyghurs and aided extremist recruitment. In the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics in August, two Uyghur men killed 16 people in Kashgar
2008 Kashgar attack
The 2008 Kashgar attack was a terrorist attack perpetrated by two men on the morning of August 4, 2008, who attacked a group of police officers while they were jogging near the western city of Kashgar, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, resulting in the death of sixteen...
with a combination truck collision and stabbing.
Because Kashgar lies in a seismic zone, the city is undergoing a $1.1 billion urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
plan to replace mudbrick
Mudbrick
A mudbrick is a firefree brick, made of a mixture of clay, mud, sand, and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. They use a stiff mixture and let them dry in the sun for 25 days....
structures with new foundations that meet modern standards of earthquake safety and sanitation. Some Uyghurs oppose the renovations, citing the cultural value of the old buildings. Outside investment has fueled the town's economic growth of 20% since the city was designated a Special Economic Zone in 2010. However, many Uyghurs, including the suspects in the 2011 Kashgar attacks, do not have even a primary education
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
, and still more are not proficient in Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese, or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
. As a result, unemployment is high and salaries are low even among Uyghurs with university degrees.
The designated terror group known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement
East Turkestan Islamic Movement
The East Turkestan Islamic Movement The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) (also known as the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), and other names; is a Waziri based mujahideen organization. Its stated goals are the independence of East Turkestan and the...
(ETIM), is a UK-based Pan-Islamic
Pan-Islamism
Pan-Islamism is a political movement advocating the unity of Muslims under one Islamic state — often a Caliphate. As a form of religious nationalism, Pan-Islamism differentiates itself from other pan-nationalistic ideologies, for example Pan-Arabism, by excluding culture and ethnicity as primary...
group operating in Xinjiang with similar ideals to Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
, but with less technological capability. Since explosives are tightly controlled in Xinjiang and in the border regions, the ETIM has resorted to knife, pin prick
Pin prick attack
A pin prick attack is a hypothetical assault on another person with a needle or syringe tainted with the blood of somebody carrying a Blood-borne disease, such as HIV...
, and vehicular attacks against civilians and security forces to achieve its goals. Chinese HUMINT in Xinjiang is stunted by the Uyghurs' unwillingness to cooperate with police, so state security forces find difficulty in anticipating and planning for terrorist attacks. The 2011 attacks in Kashgar came on the eve of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
and one month after Kashgar opened a railway to Hotan, a city that had been the site of violence
2011 Hotan attack
The 2011 Hotan attack was a series of coordinated bomb and knife attacks that occurred in Hotan, Xinjiang, China on July 18, 2011. According to witnesses, the assailants were a group of 18 young Uyghur men who opposed the local government's campaign against the full-face Islamic veil, which had...
on July 18.
First day
At 10:30 pm on July 30, two car bombCar bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
s exploded prematurely: one in a parked minivan, another on a street lined with restaurants. Three bystanders immediately died from the blasts, as well as the driver of the minivan; two suspects fled the scene. Injured people were carried out of restaurants on stretchers and police cordoned off the area. Five miles from the site of the explosions at 11:45 pm, two armed Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
men hijacked a blue truck waiting at a traffic light
Traffic light
Traffic lights, which may also be known as stoplights, traffic lamps, traffic signals, signal lights, robots or semaphore, are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings and other locations to control competing flows of traffic...
by stabbing its driver to death. According to the Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
-based Ming Pao
Ming Pao
Ming Pao is a Chinese language newspaper published by Ming Pao Group in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, Ming Pao established four overseas branches in North America, each provides independent reporting on local news and collect local advertisements. Currently, only the two Canadian editions remain: Ming...
, the two hijackers were the same suspects who fled the earlier explosion. With control of the truck, they drove into a crowded sidewalk
Sidewalk
A sidewalk, or pavement, footpath, footway, and sometimes platform, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb...
lined with food stalls, jumped out, and started stabbing pedestrians. Eventually the crowd overpowered the attackers, beating one of them to death before police detained the other. 27 people emerged alive with injuries, while eight victims died. A tourist operator in Kashgar told The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
that the police closed off several areas of the city, although residents said that the atmosphere in the city immediately afterwards was calm.
Second day
At 4:30 PM on the following day, a group of 12 Uyghur men armed with guns and knives threw explosives into busy Kashgar dapanjiDapanji
300px|thumb|right|A plate of dapanji as served in [[Urumqi]]Dapanji is a popular dish in Xinjiang, China.- Etymology and preparation :...
restaurant, causing a fire. The targeted restaurant was located at the end of Gourmet Food Street, a crowded street lined with restaurants and shops that are popular with Han people. As restaurantgoers tried to flee into the street, the assailants hacked at them with knives, leaving "pool[s] of blood" and overturned tables in their wake. The restaurant owner, a waiter and four patrons were killed; 12 other Han people
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
suffered injuries. Firefighters arrived to put out the fire and police engaged in a firefight with the armed men, shooting five but sustaining three injuries of their own. Four of the shot suspects died immediately, and another died in hospital. Another four suspects were taken into custody. Memtieli Tiliwaldi (买买提艾力·铁力瓦尔地) and Turson Hasan (吐逊·艾山), two Uyghur men who had warrants for their arrest
Arrest warrant
An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual.-Canada:Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code of Canada....
issued, were fatally shot by police one day later in a corn field on the outskirts of Kashgar.
Attribution
The Chinese government is investigating the cause of the violence, and it did not offer an immediate explanation as for the attackers' motives. However, state media confirmed that all the suspected attackers were Uyghur, and an initial investigation from the Kashgar government concluded that the attacks on both days were related and that the perpetrators were recruited in Pakistan and gained explosives and firearms training at ETIM bases in Pakistan along with Taliban and al-Qaeda groups. The suspects, some of whom openly confessed to an ETIM connection, were reportedly influenced by JihadistJihadism
Jihadism is a term to describe the renewed focus on armed jihad in radical Islamic fundamentalism....
ideology. Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna
Rohan Gunaratna
Rohan Gunaratna is an international terrorism expert. He is the head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research ] at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore...
said that the violence could either be "conducted or influenced by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement", although he said the movement had been weakened by Pakistani counter-terror operations
War in North-West Pakistan
The War in North-West Pakistan is an armed conflict between the Pakistan Armed Forces and armed religious groups such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan , Lashkar-e-Islam, TSNM, Arab and Central Asian militants including Al-Qaeda, regional armed movements and elements of organized crime.The armed...
from 2003, which included ETIM leaders like Hasan Mahsum and Abdul Haq al-Turkistani being killed.
Reactions
Chinese state media condemned both days' attacks as "terrorist", followed by the Government of PakistanGovernment of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan is a federal parliamentary system, with an indirectly-elected President as the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Armed Forces, and an indirectly-elected Prime Minister as the Head of Government. The President’s appointment and term are...
which said that "all incidents of terrorism are deplorable" and promised full cooperation with China against ETIM. Chinese president Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
called Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari is the 11th and current President of Pakistan and the Co-Chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party . He is also the widower of Benazir Bhutto, who served two nonconsecutive terms as Prime Minister....
to discuss ETIM's activities before holding the upcoming China-Eurasia Expo
China-Eurasia Expo
The China-Eurasia Expo is an exposition for commercial, cultural and ministerial activities among Asian and European countries.-History:...
in September, while the chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
left for Beijing to address Chinese concerns. The Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...
announced that it would continue operations against ETIM, although some analysts doubt the strength of the Pakistani government in controlling terrorism. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council
Mainland Affairs Council
The Mainland Affairs Council is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China. The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of policies between the Free Area of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, and the People's...
issued a terror alert to travelers in Xinjiang, citing the attacks' increased seriousness above the 2011 Hotan attack
2011 Hotan attack
The 2011 Hotan attack was a series of coordinated bomb and knife attacks that occurred in Hotan, Xinjiang, China on July 18, 2011. According to witnesses, the assailants were a group of 18 young Uyghur men who opposed the local government's campaign against the full-face Islamic veil, which had...
because they "targeted innocent civilians" rather than security forces.
Dilxadi Rexiti, a representative from the pro-Uyghur independence World Uyghur Congress
World Uyghur Congress
The World Uyghur Congress is an international organisation of exiled Uyghur groups said to "represent the collective interest of the Uyghur people" both inside and outside of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China...
(WUC), explained the attacks as a matter of "Uyghurs hav[ing] no peaceful way to oppose the Chinese government so some have taken to extreme measures." He also alleged that martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
had been declared in the city, but Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
reported that it was not possible to determine if an actual order for martial law had been issued. Rebiya Kadeer
Rebiya Kadeer
Rebiya Kadeer is a prominent Uyghur businesswoman and political activist from the northwest region of Xinjiang Autonomus Region of the People's Republic of China...
, also of the WUC, said "I cannot blame the Uyghurs who carry out such attacks for they have been pushed to despair by Chinese policies." She also unfavorably compared the Chinese authorities' killing of Tiliwaldi and Hasan to the Norwegian authorities' supposed leniency towards the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks
2011 Norway attacks
The 2011 Norway attacks were two sequential terrorist attacks against the government, the civilian population and a summer camp in Norway on 22 July 2011....
.
Aftermath
The city was reported to have virtually "shut down" immediately after the attacks, as Uyghur shops closed down for Ramadan and Han shops closed and Han people stayed indoors out of fear. Tour groups scheduled to arrive at Kashgar were rerouted to Kanas Lake in northern Xinjiang. Riot police were deployed to the city and security checkpoints were established in the city center. Authorities tried to stem the spread of inciteful rumors, including by deletingInternet censorship in the People's Republic of China
Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. There are no specific laws or regulations which the censorship follows...
blog posts from residents. Around 200 Han people protested the loss of "innocent lives" on the streets of Kashgar on August 1; most of the victims were also Han. Governor of Xinjiang Nur Bekri
Nur Bekri
Nur Bekri is the current Chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China. He is of Uyghur ethnicity and was born and raised in his native Xinjiang. He has spent his entire life in the Region, aside from a short stint as the Deputy Mayor of Feicheng, Shandong...
visited Kashgar that same day pledging to punish the attackers, and the Kashgar and Xinjiang governments established a fund to pay for the medical treatment of survivors. Prayers at the Id Kah Mosque
Id Kah Mosque
The Id Kah mosque is a mosque located in Kashgar, Xinjiang, in the western People's Republic of China. It is the largest mosque in China. Every Friday, it houses nearly 10,000 worshippers and may accommodate up to 20,000....
proceeded as usual, where religious leaders from the Islamic Association of China characterized the attacks as un-Islamic and pledged to offer Muslims new interpretations of Islamic texts that did not lend themselves to extremism.
The Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
hosted an emergency anti-terrorism work conference in Ürümqi
Ürümqi
Ürümqi , formerly Tihwa , is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country....
at which Zhang Chunxian
Zhang Chunxian
Zhang Chunxian is a Chinese politician. From 2005 to 2010 he was the CPC party chief of Hunan Province. He was subsequently transferred to Xinjiang to replace outgoing party secretary Wang Lequan.-Life and career:...
, the Xinjiang CPC party chief
Party chief of the Communist Party of China
In the Politics of the People's Republic of China, a party chief , variously called a party boss, and officially termed the Communist Party Committee Secretary for a certain region, is the leader of the local Communist Party of China division, and in most cases, the de facto first-in-charge of its...
, resolved to crack down on "religious extremist forces", saying that "terrorist attackers are the common enemies of all ethnic groups". Minister of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Public Security , is the principal police and security authority of the mainland of the People's Republic of China and the government agency that exercises oversight over and is ultimately responsible for day-to-day law enforcement...
Meng Jianzhu
Meng Jianzhu
Meng Jianzhu is the Minister of the Public Security of the People's Republic of China.-Life and career:Meng was born in July 1947, a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.Meng was one of the deputy mayors of Shanghai from 1993 to 1996...
added that, in addition to a crackdown, the government will address the social grievances that can lead to terrorism by expanding compulsory education
Compulsory education
Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all persons.-Antiquity to Medieval Era:Although Plato's The Republic is credited with having popularized the concept of compulsory education in Western intellectual thought, every parent in Judea since Moses's Covenant with...
and community development
Community development
Community development is a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens and professionals to improve various aspects of local communities....
efforts. Except for those closed for Ramadan, businesses in the city reopened on August 4. On August 13, the elite counterterrorist Snow Leopard Commando Unit was deployed to Hotan and Kashgar to secure the cities ahead of the China-Eurasia Expo
China-Eurasia Expo
The China-Eurasia Expo is an exposition for commercial, cultural and ministerial activities among Asian and European countries.-History:...
in September. On September 8, the US-based terrorist monitoring group SITE
SITE Institute
The Search for International Terrorist Entities Intelligence Group is an organization that tracks the online activity of terrorist organizations. The SITE Institute was founded in 2002 by Rita Katz and Josh Devon, who had left the Investigative Project...
reported on a video made by ETIM leader Abdul Shakoor Damla claiming responsibility for the July Hotan and Kashgar attacks on behalf of his group. Damla confirmed that one of the perpetrators shot by police, Tiliwaldi, prepared for the attacks in a ETIM training camp
ETIM training camp
ETIM training camp is a name that Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts applied to a place where two dozen ethnic Uyghurs held in Guantanamo are suspected of having received training....
in Pakistan. On September 14, the Xinjiang Legal Daily reported that six men were tried for their involvement in the Hotan and Kashgar attacks. Four were given death sentences, and two were given 19-year jail terms, for charges including "leading and organizing a terror group, manufacturing illegal explosives, intentional homicide, [and] arson". Xinjiang authorities have unveiled a package of policy responses to the attacks to placate Muslim Uyghurs, which include increasing quotas for Uyghur participation in local government and increasing government subsidies for religious schools.