Raid in Shenyang 'points to terrorists spreading across China'

The raid on suspected terrorists in northeastern Liaoning province on Monday indicated that Muslim extremists motivated by jihad were spreading across the mainland, a security expert said.

According to a statement posted on the provincial government's Weibo account on Monday night, police in Shenyang shot dead three suspected terrorists from Xinjiang and arrested another, when searching for suspects related to what the authorities are calling the "June 12 Hijra case".

No details of the Hijra case were provided. Hijra refers to the journey of the Prophet Mohammed from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution.

Li Wei, director of the counterterrorism research centre at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said extremists had co-opted the word to justify their violence.

"The case in Shenyang suggests that the Hijra movement might have spread across the country," Li said, adding that in the past suspected terrorists usually went to the southern part of the country.

Exiled Uygurs and human rights groups said China's repressive policies on culture and religion in Xinjiang were to blame for the illegal migration.

But Beijing said many Uygurs had fled to join terrorist groups abroad.