Chinese police arrests four more in Kunming station knife attack case

Beijing: In a breakthrough in the deadly Kunming railway station knife attack case, Chinese police have arrested four more suspects in addition to the four Uigur militants already in custody in connection with the incident that left 33 people dead and 143 others injured. The arrests of the four more persons was announced by Yunnan provincial procuratorate today, a day after four militants, including a woman, were charged with crimes of organising, leading, taking part in a terrorist attack and intentional homicide. [caption id=“attachment_1414851” align=“alignleft” width=“512”]  A woman reacts, at the crime scene outside the railway station where the attack took place. AP.[/caption] A group of knife-wielding assailants attacked civilians at the railway station in Kunming, provincial capital of southwest China’s Yunnan Province, on the evening of 1 March. The attack left 33 people, including four militants, dead and 143 others others injured. Police shot dead four of the attackers at the station. Four militants were captured and detained on 3 March. The identities of the detained persons has not been announced so far, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. A group of six men and two women stated to be members of East Turkistan Islamic Militant Movement (ETIM) carried out the attack at the crowded railway station, randomly slashing at people in a frenzy. The attack went on for over 20 minutes. China blamed the attack on ETIM which is fighting for the independence of Xinjiang where native Muslim Uigurs are protesting the increasing settlements of Hans from other parts of China in the resource-rich province bordering Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Afghanistan besides several Central Asian states. Chinese officials said that evidence such as insignia and flags about “East Turkestan” were found at the scene of the attack, which was the first major terrorist strike outside Xinjiang. China has also said that ETIM has claimed responsibility for the attack in a video posted on the net. Though active in Xinjiang, ETIM, stated to be a wing of the al-Qaeda remains an opaque organisation with few details about its leadership and organisational structure known. Three alleged militants, including two women from Xinjiang and a civilian were killed and several others injured when a similar attack was attempted at the iconic Forbidden City here last year. After the Kunming attack, China had stepped up security nation-wide deploying police to respond to emergency calls. Several copy cat attacks stated to be carried out by disgruntled or mentally deranged people in several parts of China took place this month with several people killed and injured. PTI