Xinjiang residents hand in knives and explosives

Residents in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have used their initiative to hand in knives and explosives after police issued a notice asking the public to hand in dangerous articles, according to Urumqi city public security department on Tuesday.

Xinjiang police issued the notice last week following a terrorist attack which killed 35 people in Lukqun township, Turpan prefecture.

Figures provided by Urumqi police show that, from July 1 to 8, Shaqu police, under the Urumqi public security authority, had seized 2,395 knives and 43 guns. Residents handed in 152 knives, 16 detonators and 1,024 bullets.

One resident, surnamed Xu, handed in 600 bullets. "I joined the army 20 years ago, and I kept all these bullets," he said.

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