Raids this year target 'Olympics' saboteurs'
Mainland police have detained 82 suspected terrorists this year as the authorities step up pressure on 'separatist movements' in Xinjiang ahead of the Beijing Olympics next month, officials have said.
This is the first time that Chinese authorities have given the number of terrorist suspects detained this year.
The 82 were allegedly from five groups that had 'conspired to sabotage the Beijing Olympics', Xinhua reported yesterday, quoting Chen Zhuangwei , the police chief in Urumqi , capital of the autonomous region.
Police were seeking 66 other radicals linked to terrorism, religious extremism and separatism, Xinhua said. Also in the crackdown, 51 criminal gangs were broken up, netting 217 suspects and 268 wanted criminals. A resulting 12.6 per cent drop in crime was registered in Urumqi, it said.
Police also raided 41 sites identified as 'illegal religious schools' and 'jihad training centres', Xinhua said.
The state news agency provided neither evidence to support the police's claim nor figures for casualties among police and suspects, although earlier mainland reports had said at least seven suspects were killed in police raids this year.
