2010 Aksu bombing
{{Short description|Bombing incident in Aksu, Xinjiang, China}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox terrorist attack
|title=2010 Aksu bombing
|partof = Xinjiang conflict
|image= Location of Aksu within Xinjiang (China).png
|location=Aksu, Xinjiang, People's Republic of China
|target=Security personnel
|date=19 August 2010
|time-begin=10:30
|time-end=
|timezone=UTC+3
|type=Bomb
|fatalities=7+
|injuries=14+
|perps=
|coordinates = 41°10'0"N, 80°15'0"E
| Footage =
}}
{{Campaignbox Xinjiang conflict}}
{{Chinese|t=2010{{linktext|年|阿克蘇|爆炸|襲擊|事件}}|s=2010{{linktext|年|阿克苏|爆炸|袭击|事件}}}}
The 2010 Aksu bombing was a bombing in Aksu, Xinjiang, People's Republic of China that resulted in at least seven deaths and fourteen injuries when a Uyghur man detonated explosives in a crowd of police and paramilitary guards at about 10:30 on 19 August,{{cite news
| last= Barboza
| first= David
| url= https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/world/asia/20china.html?_r=1
| title= Blast Kills 7 in Restive Chinese Region
| work= The New York Times
| date= 19 August 2010
| access-date=19 August 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130510090749/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/world/asia/20china.html?_r=1| archive-date=10 May 2013| url-status= live}} using a three-wheeled vehicle.{{cite news
| url= http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/08/2010819102454243887.html
| title= Several dead in China explosion
| publisher= Al-Jazeera
| date= 19 August 2010
| access-date=19 August 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100819192128/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/08/2010819102454243887.html| archive-date= 19 August 2010 | url-status= live}} The assailant targeted police officers in the area,{{cite news
| last= Chang
| first= Anita
| url= http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9HN6NP80.htm
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121025071854/http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9HN6NP80.htm
| url-status= dead
| archive-date= 25 October 2012
| title= Official: Attack in western China targeted police
| work= Businessweek
| date= 20 August 2010
| access-date=20 August 2010}} and most of the victims were also Uyghurs. Xinhua news agency reported that six people were involved in the attack, and two had died; the other four were detained by police.{{cite news
| last= Rabinovitch
| first= Simon
| url= https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE67O08I
| title= China detains four over attack on Xinjiang police
| publisher= Reuters
| date= 25 August 2010
| access-date=26 August 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100829120434/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE67O08I| archive-date= 29 August 2010 | url-status= live}}
Background
A number of violent incidents have occurred in Xinjiang since the 1990s. In the year before the attack, Xinjiang had ethnic tensions that continued to trouble the region. Before the 2010 Aksu blast, Xinjiang Governor Nur Bekri was quoted as saying Xinjiang faces a "long and fierce and very complicated struggle" because "Separatism in Xinjiang has a very long history, it was there in the past, it is still here now and it will continue in the future."{{cite news
| last= Bristow
| first= Michael
| url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11021645
| title= Blast kills seven in China's Xinjiang
| work= BBC News
| date= 19 August 2010
| access-date=19 August 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100819191454/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11021645| archive-date= 19 August 2010 | url-status= live}}
In July 2009, riots in Ürümqi resulted in the deaths of numerous Han Chinese and Uyghurs. There was another spate of attacks in the region a few months later.
Attack
The site of the explosion, Aksu ({{langx|ug|ئاقسۇ}}; {{zh|s=阿克苏}}), is about {{convert|650|km|mi|abbr=on}} west of Urumqi, and is just {{convert|60|km|mi|abbr=on}} from the border with Kyrgyzstan.{{cite news
| last= Barnes
| first= Taylor
| url= http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2010/0819/China-blast-kills-seven-in-restive-Xinjiang-Uighur-suspected
| title= China blast kills seven in restive Xinjiang; Uighur suspected
| work=The Christian Science Monitor
| date= 19 August 2010
| access-date=19 August 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100821230022/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2010/0819/China-blast-kills-seven-in-restive-Xinjiang-Uighur-suspected| archive-date= 21 August 2010 | url-status= live}} The bomb exploded at the T-intersection of Kalata Road ({{langx|ug|قالاتا يولى}}; {{zh|c=喀拉塔路|links=no}}) and Wuka Road ({{langx|ug|ئۇكا يولى}}; {{zh|c=乌喀路|links=no}}). According to a report by the Associated Press, two attackers drove a three-wheeled motorbike into a crowd and threw explosives from it.{{cite news | title=Official: Attack in western China targeted police | url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i3E80IT1fQrscs2ThcPaY-BuipzwD9HN6NP80 | last=Chang | first=Anita |agency=Associated Press | date=20 August 2010 | access-date=21 August 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100824075004/https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i3E80IT1fQrscs2ThcPaY-BuipzwD9HN6NP80| archive-date= 24 August 2010 | url-status= dead}} According to reports the attack was carried out by a man, who was arrested on the spot and whom Xinjiang government spokeswoman Hou Hanmin stated is Uyghur, and a woman who died during the attack.
Most of those killed in the blast were local security officers. Five victims died on the spot, and two died at the hospital; of the seven, at least five were police officers. An anonymous Radio Free Asia source claims that officers in the targeted police station had commonly booked Uyghurs with beards or traditional head coverings and brought them to the police station for political education.{{cite web
| url= http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/Uyghur%20policemen%20killed%20in%20attack-08192010163454.html
| title= Slain Patrolmen 'Checked' Uyghurs
| publisher= Radio Free Asia
| date= 19 August 2010
| access-date= 19 August 2010
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100820180021/http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/Uyghur%20policemen%20killed%20in%20attack-08192010163454.html
| archive-date= 20 August 2010
| url-status= dead
}} The ethnicity of the victims was not discussed at the news conference of Aksu prefecture,{{cite news
| url= http://society.people.com.cn/GB/41158/12490659.html
| script-title=zh:新疆阿克苏召开新闻发布会公布爆炸袭击案
| work= 人民网 (People's Daily)
|language = zh
| date= 2010-08-19
| access-date=19 August 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100822211830/http://society.people.com.cn/GB/41158/12490659.html| archive-date= 22 August 2010 | url-status= live}} but Hou told reporters that "most of the victims are U[y]ghurs."
At the time of the conference the incident was not classified as a terrorist attack.{{cite news
| last= Foster
| first= Peter
|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7953725/Seven-killed-in-Chinese-explosion.html
| title= Seven killed in Chinese explosion
| work= The Daily Telegraph
| date= 19 August 2010
| access-date=19 August 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100826023926/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7953725/Seven-killed-in-Chinese-explosion.html| archive-date= 26 August 2010 | url-status= live}}
Investigation
Chinese police stated that it was an intentional act, and that a suspect was detained at the scene after incurring injuries himself.{{cite news
| url= http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/08/19/china.xinjiang.blast/#fbid=usvBqfW-Bt-&wom=false
| title= 7 die in tricycle bomb attack in China
| publisher= CNN
| date= 19 August 2010
| access-date=19 August 2010 }} The four detained suspects were part of a "violent gang of six people" according to Xinjiang government spokesperson Hou Hanmin.{{cite news
| url= https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i3E80IT1fQrscs2ThcPaY-BuipzwD9HQH1880
| title= Police arrest 4 in bombing in restive west China
| publisher= Associated Press
| date= 25 August 2010
| access-date=25 August 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100829151637/https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i3E80IT1fQrscs2ThcPaY-BuipzwD9HQH1880| archive-date= 29 August 2010 | url-status= dead}}
Internet censorship
{{main|Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China}}
According to one netizen interviewed by Radio Free Asia, mention of the bombing on internet boards, including postings containing the official version of events, have been speedily deleted from the internet in China.{{cite news
| url= http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/blast-08232010174828.html
| title= More Arrests in Aksu Blast
| publisher= Radio Free Asia
| date= 23 August 2010
| access-date=26 August 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100826005605/http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/blast-08232010174828.html| archive-date= 26 August 2010 | url-status= live}}
{{Portal|China}}
References
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{Xinjiang unrest}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aksu bombing}}
Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in China
Category:August 2010 crimes in Asia
Category:21st century in Xinjiang
Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in 2010
Category:Road incidents in China
Category:2010 road incidents in Asia
Category:21st-century mass murder in China