Drive against terrorism in Xinjiang shows result

SWAT team members subdue suspected "hijackers" during a drill in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on Monday, Dec 29, 2014. [Photo by Fang Tao / Xinhua]

The strike-hard campaign aimed at preventing large-scale terrorist attacks from happening in the northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and spreading outside to other parts of China has shown initial results, said acting chairman of the region.

Shohrat Zakir, the newly appointed acting chairman of Xinjiang, made the remark in a government work report he delivered on the first day of the annual session of the 12th Xinjiang regional People's Congress in Urumqi, the capital of the region, on Tuesday.

Both the central and regional government have allocated special funds in 2014 for the campaign to support legal departments in Xinjiang to step up the efforts to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks, according to the report released by the regional department of finance on Tuesday.

The year-long campaign, which also aims to reduce the frequency of terrorist attacks, was launched the day after the terrorist attack at a morning market in Urumqi on May 22 left 39 dead and 94 injured. It will be extended to at least the end of this year, Zhang Chunxian, Party chief said earlier this month.

A series of terrorist attacks have happened in the Muslim-populated region in 2014. On July 28, the terrorist attack in Shache county, southern Xinjiang's Kashgar prefecture, claimed 37 lives and injured 13. Fifty-nine terrorists were shot dead at the scene and 215 arrested. It was the one of the deadliest attack in the region in recent years.

Some terrorists from Xinjiang have also launched attacks outside the region. Religious extremism is believed to be the cause of the increasing number of violent attacks.

"Everyone, every department and every prefecture should contribute to the region's long-term, complicated and tough battle again separatism and terrorism because it's an urgent mission in 2015," Shohrat said. "We must solve the problems of tradition with respect and handle religious issues with the rule of religion. Meanwhile, we must use the rule of law to crack down on terrorism."

Besides causing casualty of the civilians, terrorist attacks have also slowed down the economic growth of the region in 2014.