China Says Uyghur Separatists Killed More Than 160

6 September 2005 -- China says Uyghur separatists fighting for an independent homeland in the northwest of the country have killed more than 160 people in attacks over the past decade.

Police officials quoted by the Xinhua news agency said the Muslim Uyghur separatists have carried out 260 attacks in the past 10 years.

Zhao Yongchen, deputy director of the Antiterrorism Bureau within the Interior Ministry, accused the Uyghur separatists of ties with Al-Qaeda, Afghanistan's Taliban, and the Uzbekistan Islamic Liberation Movement.

The Uyghurs have been fighting to reestablish an independent state of East Turkestan in Xinjiang since it was annexed by China 50 years ago.

(AFP)