China: Police shoot dead 13 thugs in Xinjiang

According to AFP and Xinhua news agencies, on the morning of June 21, a car bomb occurred in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Northwest China.

A group of 13 thugs drove a truck into a police headquarters in Kargilik County, Kashgar Prefecture, in the southern Xinjiang region, and detonated explosives. They were killed on the spot by police.

Chinese military ensures security in Xinjiang (Source: AFP)

"Today, thugs rammed a car into a police station in Kargilik county of Kashgar prefecture, Xinjiang and set off an explosion. Police took decisive action and shot dead 13 thugs," the Tianshan county news portal reported.

The attack injured three police officers, but caused no civilian casualties. Local authorities are investigating the incident.

China has seen a wave of attacks targeting police, government agencies and civilians in recent times, most of them in the Xinjiang region.

Late last month, a suicide bombing in the capital of Xinjiang, Urumqi, killed 39 people and injured more than 90. Shortly after, the Beijing government launched an anti-terrorism campaign in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region that lasted until June 2015.

All political and legal forces, military and armed police in Xinjiang have been mobilized for the campaign, with a focus on targeting terrorists and religious extremist groups, explosives and terrorist training camps.

Police here have dismantled 23 terrorist and religious extremist groups, arresting more than 200 suspects. More than 200 explosive devices were also seized in raids by security forces. Many people who committed terrorism and violence crimes have been sentenced to death./.

According to VNA