Forty “rioters” were killed in China’s far-western Xinjiang region following a series of explosions last Sunday, the worst incident of violence in months, the regional government has said after a four-day news blackout.
Six civilians, two police officers and two auxiliary police were also killed in the attacks in Xinjiang’s Luntai county, with 54 civilians injured, the regional government’s news portal Tianshan said late Thursday.
Two “rioters” were captured, it added, while the main suspect, whose name was given as Mamat Tursun, was shot dead.
The violence took place just two days before the sentencing of prominent Muslim Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti, who was on trial on charges of separatism.
Such a delay in the release of details is not uncommon.
Tohti, a former university professor who has been critical of Beijing’s policies in the vast western region, was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday.
According to the Tianshan report, the “organised and serious” attack comprised four explosions that took place Sunday evening, targeting two police stations, an outdoor market and a shop.
Among the 54 civilians injured were 32 members of China’s mostly Muslim Uighur minority and 22 Han Chinese, it said.
The 40 “rioters” killed had either blown themselves up or were shot dead by police, according to the report.
Police said that Mamat Tursun, the alleged ringleader of Sunday’s attack, had been “gradually developing into an extremist” since 2003 and had “called on other people to join his terrorist group when working on construction projects”, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
