On 26 June 2013, rioting broke out in

Shanshan County Shanshan County () as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Piqan County (; ), is a county within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administrative jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Turpan ...

, in the autonomous region of

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. 35 people died in the riots, including 22 civilians, two police officers and eleven attackers.

Background

Two months before the attack, ethnic clashes occurred in Marelbeshi (Bachu),

, China. The violence left at least 21 people dead, including 15 police and local officials.

Attack

On 26 June 2013, terrorists in Lukqun Township,

attacked a police station and a local government building, killing two policemen and 22 civilians. Eleven of the attackers were also killed. This attack was one of the bloodiest attacks in Xinjiang since 2009.

Aftermath

Following the riots, domestic-security chief,

Meng Jianzhu Meng Jianzhu (; born July 1947) is a retired Chinese politician best known for his term as the Secretary of Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party between 2012 and 2017. He also headed the Central Public ...

, and head of minority affairs, Yu Zhengsheng, were dispatched to the region. Security forces also conducted military parades in the region in a show of force.

Reactions

In response to the riots, Chinese media blamed violence in its own Xinjiang province in June 2013 on extremists from Syria. The ''

Global Times The ''Global Times'' () is a daily tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the ''People's Daily'', commenting on international issues from a Chinese ultra-nationalistic perspective. The publi ...

'' reported that members of an East Turkestan faction had traveled from Turkey to Syria. "This Global Times reporter has recently exclusively learned from the Chinese anti-terrorism authorities that since 2012, some members of the 'East Turkestan' faction have entered Syria from Turkey, participated in extremist, religious and terrorist organisations within the

Syrian opposition The Syrian opposition ( ar, المعارضة السورية ', ) is the political structure represented by the Syrian National Coalition and associated Syrian anti-Assad groups with certain territorial control as an alternative Syrian gover ...

forces and fought against the

Syrian army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six ...

. At the same time, these elements from 'East Turkestan' have identified candidates to sneak into Chinese territory to plan and execute terrorist attacks." It also cited the arrest of 23-year-old Maimaiti Aili, of 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 ar ...

(ETIM), and said that he fought in the Syrian civil war. Dilxat Raxit, the Sweden-based spokesman for the

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 R ...

, replied to the accusation that "Uighurs already find it very difficult to get passports, how can they run off to Syria?" While the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying did not directly respond to the claims she said that China has "also noted that in recent years East Turkestan terrorist forces and international terrorist organizations have been uniting, not only threatening China's national security but also the peace and stability of relevant countries and regions." In Turfan's town of Lukchun the attack on 26 June 2013 was congratulated 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 ...

who called the attackers "mujahideen" in the "Islamic Turkistan" magazine in its 14th edition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2013 06 Shanshan riots 2013 riots 2013 in China 2013 murders in China Riots and civil disorder in China Shanshan 2013 06 Terrorist incidents in China Islamic terrorism in China June 2013 events in China