German-based exiles call attack part of armed struggle
The attack on armed police officers in Kashgar , Xinjiang , yesterday was part of an 'armed struggle' by Uygurs who had suffered under Chinese rule, said a spokesman for the banned East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).
Dilxadi Rexiti, of the exiled East Turkestan Information Centre, based in Germany, said he would not describe yesterday's incident as a terrorist attack.
'I don't think the attack was a terrorist plot,' he said. 'It is an armed struggle and this is in response to the persistent suppression by the Chinese government in the region. It is groundless to accuse ETIM of the attack. On the contrary, it is the Chinese government's autocratic measures in Xinjiang that should be blamed.'
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, in which at least 16 armed policemen were killed. But Xinhua quoted the Xinjiang Public Security Department saying it had received intelligence that ETIM planned to launch terrorist attacks during the first week of August - ahead of the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Two weeks ago, the Washington-based terrorism intelligence firm IntelCentre released a video by a group calling itself Turkestan Islamic Party, which claimed responsibility for explosions in Yunnan and Shanghai and attacks in other mainland cities. In the video, an armed man said the group would strike cities hosting Olympic events.