Chinese Police Kills 2 Suspects in Xinjiang Violence

Chinese police have shot dead two men suspected of mounting a fatal attack in Xinjiang region. Memtieli Tiliwaldi and Turson Hasan, were found hiding in a corn field on the outskirts of the city of Kashgar, the state-run (Xinhua) news agency reported. Six people were killed in an attack on a restaurant there. Police shot dead five suspects at the scene. A weekend of violence left up to 18 people dead in the restive region. The latest two killings add to that toll. "We will harshly attack any atrocities that threaten people''s lives, defile the dignity of the law, and threaten supreme national interests," the governor of Xinjiang Nur Bekri said. In 2009, riots erupted in Xinjiang in which nearly 200 people died after tensions flared between the Muslim Uighurs - who are a majority in the region - and the Han Chinese. The Kashgar city government said suspects captured after the restaurant attack had admitted their leaders had joined the separatist East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and been trained in making firearms and explosives. The weekend attacks were the second outbreak of violence in Xinjiang in a month. On 18 July, several police officials and a number of civilians were killed in an attack on a police station in the city of Hotan.