Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Islamic Militants in China

We do not hear about it very often but China has had an ongoing problem with Islamic militants for years. Chinese courts recently sentenced 20 people to up to life in jail on charges of separatism and plotting to carry out jihad.

The courts in Kashgar and Bayingol said the 20  had had their "thoughts poisoned by religious extremism", and used cell phones and DVDs "to spread Muslim religious propaganda.

Some of them bought weapons to kill policemen as part of their jihad and spread propaganda related to the banned East Turkestan Islamic Movement, the report said, a group which China says wages a violent campaign for a separate state.

China has blamed violence in energy-rich Xinjiang - strategically located on the borders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Central Asia - on Islamic separatists who want to establish an independent East Turkestan.

Some Chinese officials have also blamed attacks on Muslim militants trained in Pakistan.

In December, a Xinjiang court sentenced three men to death and another to life in prison for attempting to hijack an aircraft in June.



Live Long and Prosper....
 

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