China Kunming Knife Attack: security tightened

Following a mass knife attack in South West China Kunming, national security has been tightened as witnesses described horrific scenes at the attack.

Several men and women burst into Kunming station south-west China on Saturday stabbing people at random and over 130 people were wounded. The chief security of China Meng Jianzhu has vowed - "all out effort to severely punish terrorists". He condemned the brutal attack on the defenceless innocent people by violent terrorists. 

There were at least 10 suspected attackers with four shot dead by the police at the scene. A female suspect was detained and is receiving treatment for injuries, report says. Eye witnesses said that the attackers used
curved swords and meat cleavers to stab people at random.It was indeed brutal! Continue... (Another picture)

 

 

A memorial for the victims was set up at Kunming station's concourse. Over 100 people attended the vigil at the station on Sunday night to mourn the victims. 

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that officials have blamed separatists from Xinjiang region for the attack. Xinjiang is home to the Muslim Uighur minority group. Several violet incident have been seen there in recent months for which the government blamed it on extremist. Confirming these report is difficult because foreign journalists' access to the region is tightly controlled. 

China is certain to argue that the scale and shocking brutality of this attack shows that the threat is real and serious due to the fact that China is often accused of exaggerating the threat of Islamist terrorist to justify its harsh security crackdown in Xinjiang and the restrictions it places on the religion and culture of the Uighurs. 

Chinese authorities said evidence from the scene pointed to the separatists from Xinjiang; however, no details were given and the claim could not be verified.