China border attack kills 16 police

AFP
Monday, Aug 4, 2008

China's Olympic run-up stuttered again Monday as it reported that terrorists killed 16 policemen in the nation's far northwest, while pollution returned to fill athletes' lungs in Beijing.

The attack in the Muslim-populated Xinjiang region raised the security temperature ahead of the Games, which begin on Friday, as authorities had repeatedly warned that militants there were planning to sabotage the Games.

It also follows deadly bomb blasts in the southwestern city of Kunming last month and in Shanghai in May, killing a total of five people, which a Muslim militant group with ties to Xinjiang claimed responsibility for.

The Chinese organisers of the Games said they were checking for any link between Monday's attack and the Olympics, but immediately sought to reassure the world about security arrangements for the event.

"We have strengthened security work in all Olympic venues and in the Olympic village. We are well-prepared in security for the upcoming Games," Beijing Olympic organising committee spokesman Sun Weide said.

Full article here

[DISCUSS THIS STORY IN OUR FORUM]