China blames Pak terror camps for Xinjiang violence

While nine people were killed in a violent attack on Saturday, another 11, including 5 suspected militants, were killed in another attack on Sunday night.

China today blamed "extremists" trained in terror camps in Pakistan for orchestrating attacks on civilians in the troubled Xinjiang province, where 20 people, including alleged militants, were killed in violent incidents over two days.
While nine people were killed in a violent attack on Saturday, another 11, including five suspected militants, were killed in another attack last night.
A statement by the Kashgar municipal government said militants trained by the 'East Turkistan Islamic Movement' in Pakistan were responsible for the recent flare up in violence.
"A group of religious extremists led by culprits trained in overseas terrorist camps were behind the weekend attack on civilians in China's far-western Xinjiang," state run Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.
"Initial probe has shown that the heads of the group had learned skills of making explosives and firearms in overseas camps of the terrorist group East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) in Pakistan before entering Xinjiang to organise terrorist activities," it said.

The Xinjiang region witnessed massive riots in 2009, when almost 200 people were killed in its capital Urumqi, following which China launched a major crackdown against Uyghur Muslim separatists.
On July 18, 14 "rioters" were killed when they reportedly attacked a policestation and killed four people in the province's Hotan city .Kashgar authorities said in their official web site that terrorists captured after a bomb attack had admitted that one of the group's leaders was trained in making explosives and firearms at camps in Pakistan before infiltrating back into China. The police have killed five of the terrorists representing the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which runs a separatist movement in Xinjiang province, it said.
   This is perhaps the first time that China has pointed fingers at its close ally Pakistan while referring to ETIM camps there. Xinjiang shares its borders with Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and a lot of trade between China and Pakistan is routed through Kashghar as it is located close to the border. .
 Chinese officials have for years avoided pointing the accusing finger at Pakistan although there has been clear evidence that the separatist movement in Xinjiang was fueled by ideological and arms support of terrorists based in Pakistan.
The ice was broken a few days back when the head of a official think-tank, the Institute of Central Asia at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, referred to the role of Pakistan in Xinjiang riots after the July 18 clashes in Hotan, "Located in the southern part of Xinjiang, Hotan is close to the border with Pakistan. Due to their affinity in religion and language, some Uyghur residents there are at risk of being influenced by terrorist groups such as the East Turkistan Islamic Movement," Pan Zhiping, director of the Institute was quoted in the State run Global Times as saying.
These statements show there is a realization in the Communist Party of China that its close relationship with the Jamat-e-Islami and its protective attitude towards Pakistan have both failed to insulate Xinjiang from separatist violence, sources said