Mainland officials confirm Xinjiang terrorist attack that reportedly killed up to 50 people
Social media post says police in Uygur region hunted down those involved in incident said to have killed up to 50 people two months ago
Mainland authorities have for the first time confirmed a "terrorist" attack in Xinjiang that occurred two months ago and reportedly killed up to 50 people.
A statement yesterday morning on an official social media account run by the Ministry of Public Security - and posted just hours after the deadly attacks in France - said police in the far-western region had successfully hunted down those responsible.
Previously, there had been no official reference to large-scale incident taking place in the Uygur homeland in September.
"On November 13, the black Friday, Paris was hit by the most serious terrorist attack in its history, with hundreds of casualties," the ministry said in the post. "On the other side of the planet, China's police force in Xinjiang, after hunting for 56 days, finally achieved a tremendous outcome."
Several pictures accompanied the post. One shows uniformed policemen armed with rifles in a mountainous region lighting a campfire at night. Another showed what was described as a diary of an officer involved in the operation and which said all the wanted terrorists had been captured.
The ministry did not specify what triggered the manhunt, and the post was later deleted.