The 2010 Aksu bombing was a bombing in Aksu,

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

, People's Republic of China that resulted in at least seven deaths and fourteen injuries when a

Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...

man detonated explosives in a crowd of police and paramilitary guards at about 10:30 on 19 August, using a three-wheeled vehicle. The assailant targeted police officers in the area, and most of the victims were also Uyghurs.

Xinhua news agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: ),J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. It is a ...

reported that six people were involved in the attack, and two had died; the other four were detained by police.

Background

A number of violent incidents have occurred in

since the 1990s. In the year before the attack, Xinjiang had ethnic tensions that continued to trouble the region. Before the 2010 Aksu blast, Xinjiang Governor Nur Bekri was quoted as saying Xinjiang faces a "long and fierce and very complicated struggle" because "Separatism in Xinjiang has a very long history, it was there in the past, it is still here now and it will continue in the future." In July 2009, riots in Ürümqi resulted in the deaths of numerous

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

and

Uyghurs The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...

. There was another spate of attacks in the region a few months later.

Attack

The site of the explosion, Aksu (; ), is about west of Urumqi, and is just from the border with

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

. The bomb exploded at the T-intersection of Kalata Road (; ) and Wuka Road (; ). According to a report by the Associated Press, two attackers drove a three-wheeled motorbike into a crowd and threw explosives from it. According to reports the attack was carried out by a man, who was arrested on the spot and whom Xinjiang government spokeswoman Hou Hanmin stated is

, and a woman who died during the attack. Most of those killed in the blast were local security officers. Five victims died on the spot, and two died at the hospital; of the seven, at least five were police officers. An anonymous

Radio Free Asia Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a news service that publishes online news, information, commentary and broadcasts radio programs for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editorially independent reporting, has the stated mission of pro ...

source claims that officers in the targeted police station had commonly booked Uyghurs with beards or traditional head coverings and brought them to the police station for political education. The ethnicity of the victims was not discussed at the news conference of Aksu prefecture, but Hou told reporters that "most of the victims are U hurs." At the time of the conference the incident was not classified as a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

attack.

Investigation

Chinese police stated that it was an intentional act, and that a suspect was detained at the scene after incurring injuries himself. The four detained suspects were part of a "violent gang of six people" according to Xinjiang government spokesperson Hou Hanmin.

Internet censorship

According to one

netizen The term ''netizen'' is a portmanteau of the English words ''internet'' and ''citizen'', as in a "citizen of the net" or "net citizen". It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general.

interviewed by

, mention of the bombing on internet boards, including postings containing the official version of events, have been speedily deleted from the internet in China.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aksu bombing Xinjiang conflict Mass murder in 2010 Improvised explosive device bombings in China August 2010 crimes in Asia

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

21st century in Xinjiang Aksu Prefecture Improvised explosive device bombings in 2010 August 2010 in China Road incidents in China 2010 road incidents in Asia 21st-century mass murder in China Attacks in China in 2010 Crime in Xinjiang