2011 Kashgar attacks
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The 2011 Kashgar attacks were a series of knife and bomb attacks in Kashgar,
Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
, 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 Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...
motives and membership in the terrorist group
East Turkestan Islamic Movement The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) or the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other names, is a Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Western China. Its stated goals a ...
(ETIM), while an overseas pro-Uyghur independence group claims the attackers were frustrated by a lack of options for nonviolent anti-government protest. Businesses temporarily closed down and
riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police who act in the role of riot police in particular situations or they may be separate units organize ...
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.


Background

Kashgar is "one of the most volatile cities in China", near to the border with
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, and contains many cultural icons for the Chinese Muslim Uyghur minority. The proximity of the
jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...
activity in Afghanistan and Pakistan serve as an inspiration for Uyghur extremists.
Han people The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive var ...
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 In seismology, a seismic zone or seismic belt is an area of seismicity potentially sharing a common cause. It may also be a region on a map for which a common areal rate of seismicity is assumed for the purpose of calculating probabilistic ground ...
, the city is undergoing a $1.1 billion
urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
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 A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...
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 is unfounded. The designated terror group known as the
East Turkestan Islamic Movement The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) or the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other names, is a Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Western China. Its stated goals a ...
(ETIM), is a UK-based
Pan-Islamic Pan-Islamism ( ar, الوحدة الإسلامية) is a political movement advocating the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Pan-Islamism w ...
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 Human intelligence (abbreviated HUMINT and pronounced as ''hyoo-mint'') is intelligence gathered by means of interpersonal contact, as opposed to the more technical intelligence gathering disciplines such as signals intelligence (SIGINT), imager ...
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 following is a list of terrorist incidents that have not been carried out by a state or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism). Assassinations are listed at List of assassinated people. Definitions of terrori ...
. 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.


Attacks


First day

At 10:30 pm on July 30, two car bombs 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 Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic. Traffic light ...
by stabbing its driver to death. According to the
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
-based ''
Ming Pao ''Ming Pao'' () is a Chinese-language newspaper published by Media Chinese International in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, ''Ming Pao'' established four overseas branches in North America; each provides independent reporting on local news and colle ...
'', 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 stall A food kiosk or food booth (also food stand, temporary food service facility) is generally a temporary structure used to prepare and sell food to the general public, usually where large groups of people are situated outdoors in a park, at a parade ...
s, 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'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'' 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
dapanji ''Dapanji'' ( zh, s=大盘鸡, p=Dàpánjī, l=big plate chicken) or ( ug, تۇخۇ قوردىقى , чоң тәхсә тоху қорумиси; also spelled ), is a type of chicken stew. It is a popular dish that originated in Xinjiang, China. ...
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 of blood" and overturned tables in their wake. The restaurant owner, a waiter and four patrons were killed; 12 other
Han people The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive var ...
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.


Attribution

However, state media confirmed that all the suspected attackers were Uyghur, and an 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
jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...
ideology. Terrorism expert
Rohan Gunaratna Rohan Gunaratna (born 1961) is a Sri Lankan born political analyst specializing in international terrorism. He is the Director General of thInstitute of National Security Studies Professor Gunaratna has over 30 years of academic, policy, and op ...
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. Credit for the attacks was professed by the
Turkistan Islamic Party The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) or the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other names, is a Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Western China. Its stated goals ar ...
. The
Turkistan Islamic Party The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) or the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other names, is a Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Western China. Its stated goals ar ...
supporting website "Doğu Türkistan Bülteni Haber Ajansı" praised a TIP member, Hamza (Muhammad Ali Told Rahim), who joined the Turkistan Islamic Party as one of the "mujahideen" fighting in Khorasan (Afghanistan) on December 15, 2006, and returned to Kashgar to participate in the 2011 Kashgar attacks in which he was killed, citing from a Human Rights Watch report which praised Hamza.


Reactions

Chinese media condemned both days' attacks, followed by the
Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...
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 Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakist ...
to discuss ETIM's activities before holding the upcoming
China-Eurasia Expo The China-Eurasia Expo (中国-亚欧博览会) is an exposition for commercial, cultural and ministerial activities among Asian and European countries. History Prior to the expo, a lower profile annual trade fair was held in Urumqi every year s ...
in September, while the chief of the
Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...
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 The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China in Taiwan. The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the cross-strait relations ...
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 The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) is an international organization of exiled Uyghur groups that claims to "represent the collective interest of the Uyghur people" both inside and outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's ...
(WUC), claimed that the attacks were "a matter of Uyghurs having no peaceful way to oppose the Chinese government so some have taken to extreme measures." He also alleged that
martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...
had been declared in the city, but
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...
reported that it was not possible to determine if an actual order for martial law had been issued.
Rebiya Kadeer Rebiya Kadeer ( ug, رابىيە قادىر, translit=Rabiye Qadir; born 15 November 1946) is an ethnic Uyghur businesswoman and political activist. Born in Altay City, Xinjiang, Kadeer became a millionaire in the 1980s through her real estate ...
, 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' leniency towards the perpetrator of the
2011 Norway attacks The 2011 Norway attacks, referred to in Norway as 22 July ( no, 22. juli) or as 22/7, were two domestic terrorist attacks by neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik against the government, the civilian population, and a Workers' Youth League (AUF) ...
.


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 deleting 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 The Id Kah Mosque ( ug, ھېيتگاھ مەسچىتى, translit=Hëytgah Meschiti, ; zh, s=艾提尕尔清真寺, t=艾提尕爾清真寺, p=Àitígǎěr Qīngzhēnsì; from Persian: عیدگاه, Eidgāh, meaning "Place of Festivities") is a ...
proceeded as usual, where religious leaders from the
Islamic Association of China The Islamic Association of China () is the official government supervisory organ for Islam in the People's Republic of China. The association is overseen by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) following the ...
characterized the attacks as un-Islamic and pledged to offer Muslims new interpretations of
Islamic texts Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the main ...
that did not lend themselves to extremism. The
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
hosted an emergency anti-terrorism work conference in
Ürümqi Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. Ürümqi developed its ...
at which
Zhang Chunxian Zhang Chunxian (; born 12 May 1953) is a Chinese politician best known for his term as the Communist Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and the Political Commissar of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps from 201 ...
, the Xinjiang CCP 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 The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activists ...
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 The China-Eurasia Expo (中国-亚欧博览会) is an exposition for commercial, cultural and ministerial activities among Asian and European countries. History Prior to the expo, a lower profile annual trade fair was held in Urumqi every year s ...
in September. On September 8, the US-based terrorist monitoring group
SITE Site most often refers to: * Archaeological site * Campsite, a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area * Construction site * Location, a point or an area on the Earth's surface or elsewhere * Website, a set of related web pages, typical ...
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 an 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, ndarson". Xinjiang authorities have unveiled a package of policy responses to the attacks to placate Muslim Uyghurs, which include increasing
quotas Quota may refer to: Economics * Import quota, a trade restriction on the quantity of goods imported into a country * Market Sharing Quota, an economic system used in Canadian agriculture * Milk quota, a quota on milk production in Europe * Indi ...
for Uyghur participation in local government and increasing government subsidies for
religious school A religious school is a school that either has a religious component in its operations or its curriculum, or exists primarily for the purpose of teaching aspects of a particular religion. Children A school can either be of two types, though the sa ...
s.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashgar attacks Attacks in China in 2011 Mass murder in 2011 Terrorist incidents in China in 2011 Terrorist incidents involving knife attacks Terrorist incidents involving vehicular attacks Terrorist incidents in China 21st century in Xinjiang Kashgar Improvised explosive device bombings in China Islamic terrorism in China Islamic terrorist incidents in 2011 Turkistan Islamic Party Xinjiang conflict Vehicular rampage in China China