Police killed 18 terrorists and arrested 17 others during a raid on a training camp in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
During one of the largest anti-separatist operations in recent years, one policeman died and another injured, Ba Yan, spokeswoman for the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, told a news briefing yesterday.
She said the gunbattle took place on Friday at a camp run by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, or ETIM, which the United Nations labeled a terrorist organization in 2002.
Ba said all those killed and captured belonged to the organization, and the police are still searching for a few more who escaped.
Police found 22 grenades and material that can be used for producing 1,500 more, as well as guns and homemade explosives.
The spokeswoman said the camp was located on the Pamir Plateau, a sprawling high-altitude section of Xinjiang near the borders of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. The exact location was not revealed.
She said local police were alerted when they noticed that ETIM had sent some key members to the region to set up a training camp and prepare for terrorist actions. Members were also found to be operating mines near the camp to raise funds.
Li Wei, a senior anti-terrorism researcher at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said the country needs to reassess the strength of the terror group.
"It has received external training and financial assistance and it has munitions-smuggling channels," Li said.
The Islamic extremist group is pursuing an independent "Eastern Turkistan", an area that would include Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Xinjiang.
It is believed that more than 1,000 ETIM members have received training from al-Qaida, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
Netizens showed unanimous support for the government action. By late last night, almost all the 1,500 comments posted on Sina.com, China's biggest news portal, praised the police action.
Many paid their respects to the policeman who died during the raid and said if necessary, they are also willing to go to fight against terrorism to safeguard the motherland.
According to official data, ETIM plotted more than 200 violent incidents including explosions, assassinations, arsons, poisonings and assaults in Xinjiang and in other countries between 1990 and 2001, killing 162 people and injuring 440.
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