China 'stages' large military drill in Xinjiang as latest violence branded 'terrorism'
Tanks, army vehicles, and army personnel blocked access to streets in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi, where army units carried out an exercise, an AFP reporter present at the scene said. Large sections of the city’s centre were shut down for the exercise, she said.
China staged a large military exercise in the ethnically-divided Xinjiang region on Saturday, where clashes this week killed at least 35 people.
Tanks, army vehicles, and army personnel blocked access to streets in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi, where army units carried out an exercise, an AFP reporter present at the scene said. Large sections of the city’s centre were shut down for the exercise, she said.
The exercise was carried out by members of the People’s Armed Police, part of China’s armed forces responsible for law enforcement and internal security during peacetime.
China’s state-run media on Saturday blamed more than 100 people it branded “terrorists” for sparking “riots” in Xinjiang.
The latest unrest took place in the prefecture of Hotan on Friday, where the group “[attacked] a number of people with weapons after gathering at local religious venues”, the state-run Global Times said on Saturday.
It followed clashes on Wednesday that were the deadliest to hit the western desert region – home to around 10 million members of the mostly Muslim Uygur minority – since 2009, when riots killed about 200 people.