BEIJING: A dozen pre-dawn blasts by suspected Islamic militants and an ensuing police crackdown killed at least eight people in China's restive northwest Xinjiang region on Sunday, within a week of an audacious attack that killed 16 policemen, forcing Beijing to tighten security for the ongoing Olympics.
The bomb blasts using home-made crude devices occurred in Kuqa County in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in which seven bombers and a security guard were killed early morning, the regional government said.
Four people, including two policemen were also injured in the attacks against government facilities, which officials said involved at least 15 people and 12 explosions of gas-based pipe bombs.
The county, which is about 740 kilometers from the regional capital of Urumqi and 3,000 km from Beijing, was cordoned off and all offices and institutions were shut down, Xinhua news agency quoted local police as saying.
Few pedestrians could be seen on the streets, and there were public security personnel at every intersection.
The attacks began at 2:30 a.m., when a explosive-laden three-wheeler drove rammed into a yard of the county police bureau, a regional government spokesman said.
The bombing killed a security guard, injured two police officers and two civilians and destroyed two police cars.
Police shot dead one of the bombers and captured another at the scene. One bomber committed suicide and another was seriously hurt.
Later, police found five bombers hiding under a market counter. They tossed home-made explosives at the police, who shot two of them dead. The other three blew themselves up.
