Deadly blasts in China's west claim five lives
The attack took place in the western Xinjiang province
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Sunday, 10, Aug 2008 01:53
At least five people have died and two policemen have suffered injuries after a series of explosions in China's western Xinjiang province.
The state-run Xinhua news agency said the assault involved cars being driven into buildings and attacks with homemade explosives.
The local news provider reported: "The lawbreakers drove a taxi to the local public security office, industry and business administration and other sites and tossed homemade explosives, destroying two police vehicles."
Armed clashes followed the blasts in which five people suspected of being involved in the attack were shot dead by police and two policemen were hurt.
Four days before the start of the Olympics, Chinese media reported the deaths of 16 policemen in Xinjiang in an attack it blamed on Islamist separatists in the region.
China previously warned that Islamic terrorism was one the greatest security threats it faced during the Olympics.
The Xinjiang province is in China's west while the Olympic games are taking place in the country's capital, Beijing, in the country's east.
The province contains a significant Uighur Muslim population that is seeking independence from China and which calls the province East
Turkestan.
Commenting on the blasts, a spokesperson from the World Uighur Congress Dilxat Raxit told the BBC: "In order to stop the East Turkestan situation getting worse, I urge the international community to exert pressure on China to immediately stop its systematic repressive government policies."