Kashgar officials punished amid crackdown on terrorism

Seventeen officials in Kashgar prefecture in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, who have administrative responsibility for a terrorist attack in Shache county and the murder of an imam, have been removed from their posts or received disciplinary action, Xinjiang's Party committee said on Sunday.

The terrorist attack in Kashgar's Shache county on July 28 claimed 37 lives and injured 13 people. Fifty-nine terrorists were shot dead at the scene and 215 arrested.

He Limin, Party chief of Shache, was removed from his post and Ahat Shayit, head of the county, received a severe warning. The head of the county's public security bureau was also removed from the post.

The Party chief and the head of Ailixihu township in Shache where the attack broke out were both sacked.

On July 30, three people attacked and killed Juma Tayier, 74, an imam from China's biggest mosque, Id Kah, after he performed the routine sunrise prayer at the mosque in Kashgar at 6:58 am. Two suspects were shot dead at the scene and the third, Nurmemet Abidili, 19, was captured.

Wang Shixin, head of Kashgar's public security bureau, received a warning and two other police officers were given severe warnings. Another officer was demoted.

The regional Party committee urged Xinjiang officials to learn from their mistakes from the two violent incidents and be on high alert at all times to prevent more terrorist attacks from happening.

Guo Shengkun, China's minister of public security, also urged officials to keep a clear mind on the grave, complicated and pressing nature of the current fight against terrorism during an inspection in Shache in August.

He has pledged severe punishment and tough measures to crack down on terrorism in Xinjiang. He called for improved intelligence collection, integrated prevention and control measures, and better early-warning and emergency response capabilities so as to leave no loopholes for terrorists to exploit.