Police raid gains local support

(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-07 07:03

People of various ethnic groups contributed to the January raid on a terrorist training camp in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in which 18 terrorists were killed and 17 others captured, a lawmaker said yesterday.

Local residents provided clues leading to the terrorists and volunteered to help the police pursue a number of others after the gun battle on January 5, said Mutuola Musha, who is in Beijing attending the annual session of the 10th National People's Congress, the top legislature.

Mutuola Musha, who has been a policeman in Xinjiang for 40 years, said police mainly targeted the masterminds and more hardcore criminals engaged in violent terrorist activities. They are cautious not to infringe on the rights and interests of the local people.

Authorities in Xinjiang have been investing heavily to support the development of areas bordering some Central Asian countries, which has helped increase the incomes of farmers and herdsmen. The people there have contributed a lot to the fight against terrorism, Mutuola Musha said.

The training camp was run by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a group that the United Nations labeled a terrorist organization in 2002.

In the January raid, police seized 22 hand grenades and more than 1,500 parts for grenades, as well as guns and other home-made explosives. The police found that the terrorists had been operating several mines near the camp to raise funds.

One policeman was killed by terrorists and another wounded in the gun battle.

It is believed that more than 1,000 ETIM members have been trained by al-Qaida.

The former head of the terrorist group, Hasan Mahsum, was shot dead by Pakistani troops on October 2, 2003, during a joint anti-terror operation along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Hasan Mahsum had been accused of plotting a series of violent terrorist activities in recent years, including robbery and murder in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, and murders in Xinjiang's Hotan region, which caused heavy losses of life and property.

The autonomous region accounts for roughly one sixth of the mainland's territory and is inhabited by more than a dozen ethnic minorities.

Xinhua

(China Daily 03/07/2007 page7)