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16 police killed in suspected terrorist attack in Xinjiang

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-04 12:26

Urumqi -- Sixteen policemen were killed and 16 others were injured after a border patrol armed police division in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was raided Monday morning.

Two assailants used a dump truck to ram their way into the police station in Kashi at about 8:00 am and hit a team of policemen who were jogging, witnesses said.

The two attackers got off the truck after the vehicle veered to hit on a roadside wire pole. They threw two grenades to the barracks, causing explosion. They also hacked the policemen with knives.

Fourteen policemen were killed on the spot and two others died on the way to hospital.

The attack was suspected as a terrorist attack, according to the local police. 

The regional public security department had got clues suggesting that the "East Turkistan Islamic Movement" planned to make terrorist attacks during August 1-8, just ahead of the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

The police said the two attackers had been arrested, and one of them got a leg injury in the raid.