Kashgar finds success in crackdown on terror cells

Prefecture shifts its priority to prevent more deadly attacks

Provincial regions and cities are holding their annual conferences of lawmakers and political advisers. China Daily is reporting about some of these conferences.

Law enforcement officers in Kashgar prefecture in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region busted 148 terrorist cells and group send angering public security last year-an increase of 74 percent over the previous year-as the area takes action to prevent more deadly attacks.

Kashgar, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has been a hot spot for terrorist activities, which have intensified in recent years as religious extremism has penetrated deep into the Muslim-populated area.

On July 28, a terrorist attack in the prefecture's Shache county claimed 37 lives and injured 13 people. Fifty-nine terrorists were shot dead at the scene and 215 arrested. It was one of the deadliest attacks in Xinjiang in recent years.

"The large-scale terrorist attack in Shache has shocked Kashgar. We've been trying to find out what went wrong and analyzing how the big terrorist cell was formed," Zhang Jian, Party chief of the prefecture's political and legal committee, said during the annual session of the 12th Xinjiang People's Congress.

"Besides cracking down on terrorist activities in accordance with the law, we have also realized the importance of changing people's minds about terrorism and religious extremism, which we didn't pay enough attention to before," Zhang said.

After the Shache incident, Xinjiang shifted its priority to preventing large-scale terrorist attacks, reducing the number of attacks and stopping such attacks from spreading outside the region.

Zeng Cun, Party chief of Kashgar prefecture, said the key to achieving the goal lies at the grassroots level. "We have reinforced the management of each community to unite every citizen and villager. Communities play a crucial role in eliminating terrorism and religious extremism."

Li Guoping, Party chief of Yecheng county, said, "In 2014, authorities in Yecheng received 739 valuable tips on terrorist activities from locals, who are the strongest force in fighting terrorism."

Police prevented bombings and casualties in Shule county after responding to reports from residents about suspicious individuals on Jan 12.

Police shot dead six suspected terrorists, including one who threatened them with an ax while trying unsuccessfully to detonate bombs in a commercial area.

"Xinjiang is at the stage that terrorists have become more active and anti-separatism battles have become more intense, so we have to prepare for more terrorist attacks and improve our ability to handle such attacks," said Mutalif Wubuli, commissioner of the prefecture.

cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn

Members of the Kashgar SWAT team participate in an anti-terrorism drill in March. Zhao Ge / Xinhua