The 2008 Kunming bus bombings occurred on 21 July 2008 when explosions aboard two public buses in downtown

Kunming Kunming (; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquar ...

, the capital of southwest

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Yunnan province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

, killed two people. The explosions were deliberate, according to police. The attacks occurred amid heightened tensions due to the Beijing Olympics.''Police blame sabotage in two city bus explosions''
, France 24, AFP, July 21, 2008. Although the Turkestan Islamic Party claimed responsibility for the incident, China later said the explosions were "not an act of terrorism".''China dismisses bus bombs claim''
BBC News, 26 July 2008.

Details

The blasts occurred about an hour apart during morning rush hour traffic in downtown Kunming, the city's police department said in a statement. The first blast occurred at about 7:00 am (2300 GMT Sunday) when the vehicle was at a bus stop, killing one woman and injuring 10 other people, the statement from Kunming police said. "The glass on both sides of the vehicle was all shattered and some of the seats were warped," it said. The second blast came about an hour later on the same road and killed one man, injuring four others, according to the statement. Footage broadcast on state-run television showed a large hole blown in the side of one of the buses and extensive damage to its interior. Photos posted on the Yunnan Daily website showed one of the vehicle's windows blown out by the blast and shattered glass on the road. Following the blasts, police cordoned off some streets in the area and carried out identity checks in a search for any "suspicious" persons, the Yunnan Public Security Bureau said in a statement.

Responsibility

On 26 July 2008, an alleged video of a group calling itself the Turkestan Islamic Party, claimed to have carried out bomb attacks on the buses in Kunming, along with an attack in May 2008 in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. The

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

-based

IntelCenter IntelCenter is a United States company, founded in 1989. It is based near Washington, D.C., in Alexandria, Virginia. The company "is a private contractor working for intelligence agencies".

, which monitors terrorism communications, claimed the group released a video entitled ''Our Blessed Jihad in Yunnan''. In it, the group's leader, Commander Seyfullah, claimed credit for several attacks and threatened this month's Olympics. "Despite the Turkestan Islamic Party's repeated warnings to China and international community about stopping the 29th Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, the Chinese have haughtily ignored our warnings," IntelCenter quoted him as saying. "The Turkestan Islamic Party volunteers who had gone through special preparations have started urgent actions." However, China's foreign ministry said that it examined IntelCenter's claims and dismissed the claims, concluding that the group was not behind the attack. After a premature bombing of Salvador's Cafe (a popular cafe and restaurant amongst expats) on Christmas Eve that year failed to kill anyone but injured the bomber, Police interrogated the man responsible, Li Yan, and determined that he was also behind the bus bombings over the summer."The mysterious deathbed confession of the Kunming bomber"
The Shanghaiist, 29 December 2008 The bomber died of his injuries.

References

2008 in China {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunming bus bombings Crime in China Events in Yunnan Bus bombings in Asia Terrorist incidents in China 2008 crimes in China Terrorist incidents in China in 2008 2008 murders in China History of Kunming