China replaces top general in Xinjiang after Tiananmen attack

China has replaced the top army general in the volatile northwestern region of Xinjiang following what the government called a terrorist strike in the heart of the capital Beijing, state media reported.

Peng Yong was relieved of his position on the party’s regional standing committee, the ruling Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily said in a report dated Sunday. The move effectively removes Peng’s authority as military commander over Xinjiang, an area of mountains and deserts twice the size of Texas.

While the paper did not give an explicit reason for the move, the timing appears to link it to the October 28 attack in which a man driving an SUV accompanied by his wife and mother ploughed through crowds before crashing in front of Tiananmen Gate, killing themselves and two tourists.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack in Beijing’s symbolic political heart. The government has blamed the attack on Islamic extremists seeking independence for the Turkic Muslim Uygur minority in Xinjiang.

Police identified the three attackers and five alleged co-conspirators as members of the Turkic Muslim Uygur ethnic group native to Xinjiang.