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The 2012 Yecheng attack occurred on February 28, 2012 in Yecheng, Xinjiang, a remote town on China's border with Pakistan. Details of the attack are disputed: according to Chinese government reports and court documents, at around 6 p.m. that day, a group of eight Uyghur men led by religious extremist Abudukeremu Mamuti attacked pedestrians with axes and knives on Happiness Road. Local police fought with the attackers, ultimately killing all and capturing Mamuti. State-run media reported that one police officer died and four police were injured, while 15 pedestrians died from Mamuti's assault and 14 more civilians were injured. Chinese officials characterized the event as a "terrorist attack." Exiled Uyghur groups offered conflicting accounts of the clash, which they say was precipitated by increased ethnic and religious restrictions and widespread arbitrary arrests by authorities.〔 Citing unidentified local residents, the Germany-based World Uyghur Congress said that the attacks targeted security personnel—not civilians—and that fighting resulted in the deaths of 10 Uyghurs, seven police officers, and five others.〔〔 Radio Free Asia reported that a group of Uyghurs had killed 3 ethnic Han, and that police killed 12 young Uyghurs.〔 Mamuti was convicted of terrorism and homicide-related crimes on March 26, in a trial that Uyghur groups overseas said did not comply with international legal standards. ==Background== The oasis city of Yecheng (also known as Kargilik), in Kashgar Prefecture, is 150 miles from China's border with Pakistan. Chinese border police have had difficulty asserting control over its border towns with Pakistan, as militants cross the porous border in between attacks. Despite its strategic location, Yecheng has long been remote and isolated from the rest of Xinjiang. Seven days before the attack, however, authorities opened a $578 million highway connecting Kashgar to Yecheng. Yecheng is impoverished compared to the rest of Xinjiang, and itself experienced violent unrest in the 1980s and 1990s.〔 In 1998, Yecheng saw the U.S.-designated terrorist East Turkestan Islamic Movement blow up a natural gas pipeline and injure three people, as well as several explosions, according to authorities.〔 Since 2009, according to Professor Barry Sautman, attacks in Xinjiang have become "more... spectacular, like storming police stations and attacks on police". Generally, Chinese authorities trace these attacks to Muslim hardliners who want independence from China, trained indigenously or in Pakistan.〔 Yecheng is located between two cities which have seen Uyghur militant attacks in 2011, Kashgar and Hotan.〔 In December, police rescued hostages held by suspected terrorists in Pishan, another remote border town. Xinjiang authorities aimed to recruit 8,000 extra police for 2012 for extra security before a new government is formed at the 18th National Congress.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2012 Yecheng attack」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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