Terrorist Attack in China Kills 16 Police Officers

donsutherland1 · 08-04-08, 07:53 AM

Earlier today, terrorists carried out an attack with grenades and knives in China's Xinjiang Province that killed 16 police officers. The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a terrorist group with ties to Al Qaeda is active in China's Xinjiang Province. The ETIM may be a potential suspect in the attack.

Quote:

Assailants armed with grenades and knives killed 16 police in a restive western region of China on Monday, state media said, in just the sort of violence Beijing had hoped to avoid four days before the Olympics.

The attack, which took place around 4,000 km (2,500 miles) from the capital in the old Silk Road city of Kashgar, was a reminder of internal tensions in China, especially in its ethnically mixed and largely Muslim west.

Police killed in western China ahead of Games | U.S. | Reuters

Reverend_Hellh0und · 08-04-08, 08:13 AM

i thought AQ didn't attack china cause it was what the west did to the me as why they attack us.

PeteEU · 08-04-08, 10:05 AM

Since it was not a civilian target.. how can it be a terrorist attack? The police are hardly civilians in China heh.

Plus I find it hard to believe that a country that controls every aspect of life and death, can or will allow terrorists to operate on its territory.. I mean look at Tibet .. and we are to believe that there suddenly are masses of terrorists gunning for China right up to the Olympics?

Even better.. since when have we started to believe what China says.. or is it just because the words terrorist and Islamic were used then they have to be right?

Reverend_Hellh0und · 08-04-08, 10:16 AM

Why is it so important for you pete to believe this is a. not terrorist attack. and b. staged?

PeteEU · 08-04-08, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reverend_Hellh0und

Why is it so important for you pete to believe this is a. not terrorist attack. and b. staged?

Its not important at all. Why is it so important for you to believe it was a terrorist attack?

We are talking about China.. do you believe everything the Chinese say? I sure don't. Maybe that's the difference between us two.. I don't take "official comments at face value" or eat the official "party line" on issues, but you seem to, since you seem to believe the Chinese on this issue.

Reverend_Hellh0und · 08-04-08, 10:27 AM

I recall you believeing the chinese over the americans and numerous points?

who did you believe regarding that crashed american surveillence plane?

donsutherland1 · 08-04-08, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeteEU

Since it was not a civilian target.. how can it be a terrorist attack?

Police officers are not members of the armed forces. The article, at least at this time, does not refer to "military police officers." There is a distinction.

Tucker Case · 08-04-08, 07:35 PM

A few points on this:

1. This is probably the worst timing possible for China to have such an attack seeing as the Olympics start on Friday. That alone would seriously make me doubt it was staged.

2. If the argument that "The jihadists attack us because of what the West has done in the ME in the past" is automatically negated by this attack, so is the argument that "Al Qaeda/terrorists hate us and our freedoms".

Its only fair to apply the logic across the board, but quite frankly I wouldn't be so willing to apply any beliefs or reasoning across the board to all extremists. I'd guess that there are healthy doses of types who hate the west because of what we've "meddeled with" in the ME and there are plenty who just "hate us and our freedom". In this case, neither was a determiniant factor in the attack.

My guess is they are acting against China because they want other countries to pull out of the Olympics altogether to be able to say that they have exerted their twisted will on the rest of the world in some deranged way. They are doing their thing: spreading terror. Especialy when you consider the fact that this attack comes four days before a crapload of heads of state will all be in China.

3. The point of view on police officers as civilians or combatants needs to be addressed on a country by country basis. In some countries where police forces are actively engaged with the terrorists/jihadists, then an attack is not technically a "terrorist attack" and sometimes it is in defense. It becomes extremely important to view these things as objectively as possible and don't call everything terrorism, because it was commited by certain people. tehre is a difference.

That being said, I would definitely call this particular attack a terrorist attack especially considering the importance of Frday and the number of heads of state that will be attending the events.

Those are pretty much just my opinions on the matter being discussed.

haidian · 08-09-08, 02:30 AM

are you guys kidding here?talking about this attack would be staged.just a couple of days before the olympics?that's ridiculous,and why not targetting civilians,that could have caused more sympathy around the world.some terrorist groups had claimed the responsibility for this attack and threaten to do it again.i couldnt believe some people even think that attack was a staged one if not saw it with my own eyes.

haidian · 08-09-08, 02:34 AM

check this one out
Islamist group threatens attacks at China Olympics - Yahoo! News