BEIJING, Jan 4: China said on Wednesday that seven people killed in a hostage rescue operation in the Xinjiang region had been trying to leave the country to wage `holy war` a claim disputed by an exile group.
The incident last week was the latest reported confrontation in the region home to roughly nine million mostly Muslim Uighurs since three attacks in July left dozens dead.
The Xinjiang government said `terrorists` kidnapped two people on Dec 28 in the northwestern region`s Pishan county, adding police shot dead seven suspects and arrested four others. One officer was killed and the hostages were freed.
`The relevant people wanted to cross the border for the purpose of so-called holy war, foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters, adding they kidnapped two herdsmen on the way.
He said police were alerted and the stand-off ensued. Mr Hong did not say whether the suspects were Uighurs.
But Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the World Uighur Congress, an exile group, claimed that the incident was a conflict between regular Uighurs and policemen prompted by mounting discontent over a crackdown and religious repression in the area.
`Of the seven who were shot, two were women. Authorities said they arrested four people, and my information is the youngest is seven and the eldest is seventeen,` he said.
`I also know that some people who were beaten and are now in hospital are minors, he said, adding at least 35 people have been arrested in Pishan after the incident.
Last week, the official Xinhua news agency said there was `a surge in religious extremism in the Muslim ethnic Uighur-denominated area (Pishan) that borders the Kashmir region controlled by Pakistan and India`.-http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/05/xinjiang-killing-related-to-holy-war-says-china.html
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