Yahoo/Reuters
China has finally released casualty figures for a terror attack that happened on July 28th. Yahoo/Reuters. 37 civilians were killed in the massacre while 59 of the attackers died. 215 more attackers were detained. The knife wielding mob attacked both civilians and police before they were shot. China claims the Muslim Uighur minority responsible for the attack is influenced by foreign terrorists organizations.
My Comment:
I originally covered this attack here. In my mind this sounds a lot less like a terror attack and more like a riot. A Islamic extremist inspired riot, but a riot nonetheless. The sheer numbers of people involved in the attack, 59 dead and 215 more detained assuming nobody escaped, tells me that isn't the kind of sophisticated terror plot you see in the west. The Uighurs were angry, justifiably so, at the Chinese governments treatment of their religion. Unfortunately, like so many Muslims, they went with Jihad instead of peaceful protest. Given how isolated the area and the media blackout there, this is probably the only way they had to get their message across to the wider world. It's not going to make much of an impact though, the worlds eyes are elsewhere.
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