Train station attack: 33 dead, China blames Xinjiang militants

Originally published on March 2, 2014

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An attack on a train station in Kunming in Yunnan province, China on Saturday night (March 1) left 33 people dead, including the assailants, and at least 130 injured, according to China's state-run news agency, Xinhua.

China is blaming the attack on militants in the restive far western region of Xinjiang.

According to witnesses, roughly 10 knife-wielding assailants entered the train station and began attacking people at around 9:00 p.m. The attack was "an organized, premeditated violent terrorist attack", Xinhua reported.

Four of the assailants were shot and killed by police, while about five are said to be on the run. At least one assailant was detained by authorities.

Reuters reports, "The attack ... marks a major escalation in the simmering unrest which had centered on Xinjiang, a heavily Muslim region strategically located on the borders of Central Asia.

"It is the first time people from Xinjiang have been blamed for carrying out such a large-scale attack so far from their homeland, and follows an incident in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in October which shook the country's Communist leadership.

"China has stepped up security in Xinjiang after a vehicle ploughed into tourists on the edge of Tiananmen Square, killing the three people in the car and two bystanders. China labeled it a suicide attack by militants from Xinjiang.

"Xinjiang is home to the Muslim Uighur people, many of whom chafe at Chinese restrictions on their culture and religion."

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