15 deceased awarded after Xinjiang terrorist clash

Fifteen community workers and police officers who died during a terrorist clash on April 23 in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have been awarded for their bravery.

A commendation meeting was held on Monday morning with the regional Party Committee and government posthumously awarding the 15 individuals each as a "regional anti-terrorist hero," according to the regional government.

Ten of the 15 were of the Uygur ethnic group. Three were of the Han ethnic group. The remaining two were of the Mongolian ethnic group.

Seven of the 15 were also posthumously awarded as a "regional outstanding CPC (Communist Party of China) member."

Nur Bekri, the regional governor, said at the commendation meeting that the nature of the terrorist clash was not about ethnic or religious issues, but a terrorist act to split the motherland and undermine national unity.

"It is a political fight between separatism and anti-separatism, and between safeguarding the national unity and undermining the national unity," he said. "We will leave no room for compromises and concessions."

Bekri said the terrorists carried out the attacks on victims, without sparing people of their own ethnic group.

The attacks happened around noon on April 23 in a town of Bachu County, Kashgar Prefecture, some 1,200 km southwest of Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang.

The violent clash between the terrorists and authorities left 21 people dead, including 15 community workers and police officers and six terrorists, said local authorities.

Bekri said that Xinjiang's overall situation is stable. However, it still faces severe challenges due to complicated factors at home and abroad.

The terrorist attack showed that Xinjiang is in a long-term, complicated and sharp struggle to fight against separatist forces, sometimes a fierce one, said Bekri.

He said that Xinjiang should persist against the "three evil forces" of separatism, extremism and terrorism step by step in a historical way with proactive and complete measures.

He also called for the strengthening of the capacity to deal with terrorist acts, cut off contacts between ethnic separatist forces and eliminate the destructive activities with a firm hand.

On Monday, regional officials and local residents attended a memorial service for the deceased community workers and police officers in Kashgar.

"Many families lost their loved ones in the incident. It has led to my hatred for the terrorists who killed the innocent and destroyed our lives," said Enwaer Ehet, who lost both his son and brother in the attack. Enwaer Ehet's son and brother were both policemen.

"My son, who was engaged, was preparing for his wedding ceremony due to take place on April 25. The two sons of my brother can hardly believe their father is dead," said Enwaer Ehet, who is also a policeman.

Both of their remains were hardly identifiable after a house was set on fire to by the terrorists. They were both buried after DNA identification on April 26.

"It was a lightning bolt for us. However, I do not regret letting my son become a policeman. His blood will not be in vain and I am proud of him," said Enwaer Ehet.

"We will make them role models for people in the community and fight against the terrorists," said Xie Wuzhong, a community official from where the incident happened.

The local government has recruited six community workers to its team following the death of six workers.

On the day of the incident, three community workers were alerted by suspicious individuals with knives at a local resident's home. They reported the situation to their supervisors on the telephone, but were taken by the suspects who had been hiding in the house.

Police officers and community officials from the township rushed to the scene, but were attacked and killed by the suspects, who then killed the three community workers and set fire to the house.

Other police officers who arrived at the scene shot the suspects.

Two other people from the authorities were also injured in the clash, and eight terrorist suspects were captured.

"The incident will not make me surrender and I will soon return to my position after recovering," said Helil Jelili, a policeman who was injured in the incident.

As of Monday, both of the two injured police officers were in stable condition and expected to recover completely.