Bomb attack kills 16 in China days before Games

By Emma Graham-Harrison

KASHGAR, China (Reuters) - Chinese police said a bomb attack that killed 16 police in the western Xinjiang region on Monday was a "suspected terrorist" attack, four days before the Beijing Olympic Games, state media reported.

The Xinhua news agency said two assailants drove a truck towards exercising border police officers in Kashgar, home of many ethnic Uighurs resentful of Chinese control of the region.

"One of the attackers drove a tip lorry to hit a team of more than 70 policeman who were jogging to pass the Yiquan Hotel in a regular morning exercise at about 8:00 a.m. (0:00 GMT)," said the English-language report.

"The other suspect threw an explosive towards the gate of the station. The driver then abandoned the lorry to throw explosive at the policemen" after veering into a roadside pole.

Sixteen police were killed and another 16 wounded. Police detained the two attackers on the spot, and identified them as two Uighur men aged 23 and 28. Police suspected it was a "terrorist attack" carried out using homemade explosive devices.

Kashgar was calm late on Monday evening, with a heavy security presence around the site, which had been cleared up apart from a tarpaulin over the front of the building.

A crowd gathered at the scene and was dispersed forcefully by security personnel with batons.

Security forces chased two Reuters reporters down the street, waving batons, and slammed a camera into the face of an unidentified bystander trying to take pictures.

One Han Chinese resident, who would only give his family name of Zhang, said he was not worried by the incident. "I don't this is a terrorist attack, so I'm not scared," he said.

ARM BLOWN OFF

Xinjiang's largely Muslim Uighurs have been a focus of China's strict nationwide security in the run-up to the Games. Officials have said militants seeking an independent "East Turkestan" homeland are among the biggest threats.

Many Uighurs resent Chinese controls on religion and the expanding ethnic Han Chinese presence in Xinjiang, a region rich in energy and mineral resources.

Some Uighur groups seek an independent homeland, and China has said militants have forged ties with al Qaeda, Hizb ut-Tahrir and other Islamist groups.

Xinhua earlier said the bombers had also "hacked the policemen with knives", but omitted that in a later report.

The driver was rushed to hospital after he "blew up" one of his arms igniting explosive, it said. Surgeons had amputated his arm to save his life.