http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1 ... 2676469090China Launches Manhunt for Alleged Member of ETIM Separatist GroupMan Accused of Plotting Urumqi Knife and Bomb Attack
By Jeremy Page Updated May 18, 2014 8:17 p.m. ET
BEIJING—Chinese police have launched an international manhunt for a member of a separatist organization suspected of plotting a knife-and-bomb attack at a train station in the northwestern region of Xinjiang in April, official media reported.
Police are accusing the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, or ETIM, for the attack that left three people dead in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, on April 30, the government's news agency, Xinhua, reported on Sunday.
Xinhua quoted local authorities as saying the attack was planned outside China by an ETIM member identified as Ismail Yusup and was carried out by 10 of his partners. Two of the 10 were killed in the blast, while the rest were captured, the report said.
It was the first time authorities have alleged involvement by separatists. Chinese authorities had previously said two religious extremists were responsible.
The attack came a few hours after President Xi Jinping visited a mosque in Urumqi at the end of his first trip to Xinjiang since coming to power. Xinhua didn't say how authorities had identified Mr. Yusup nor say where he is believed to be.
The report said police were hunting for him in cooperation with the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol. Interpol didn't respond to a request for comment and Mr. Yusup's name didn't turn up in a search on its website of "red notices," which are issued for people wanted internationally.
The Urumqi attack was one of a series in major Chinese cities since October that authorities have blamed on separatists from Xinjiang, suggesting to security experts that the movement could be expanding its operations and adopting new tactics, including those of foreign militant groups.
Xinjiang, which shares a border with Pakistan and Afghanistan, is home to the mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic group, some of whose members have been waging a decadeslong campaign against Chinese rule there.
While most attacks have targeted police, government buildings and other symbols of state power, the Urumqi attack and two other recent ones—a mass stabbing at a railway station in southwest China and a car crash and fire off Beijing's Tiananmen Square—caused terror and casualties among civilians.
Many Uighur activists refer to their homeland as East Turkistan and accuse Beijing of restricting religious freedom and flooding the region with non-Uighur migrants who they say get preferential access to jobs, education and public services.
The Chinese government has long accused the ETIM and its affiliates of perpetrating terrorist attacks in China and having links to foreign terrorist organizations including al Qaeda.
Just over a week ago, a group linked to ETIM called the Turkistan Islamic Party, or TIP, published a video online praising the Urumqi attack and calling for more, although it stopped short of claiming responsibility.
Some Western security officials and experts are skeptical about the cohesiveness and capabilities of ETIM and TIP, and say most Xinjiang-related unrest is caused by disparate and poorly organized groups of local residents angered by Chinese policies.
Xinhua alleged the main members of the group behind the Urumqi attack started to preach Islamic extremism in 2005.
It reported that Mr. Yusup fled abroad after police sought his arrest for making explosives and joined ETIM last year.
Xinhua alleged that on April 22, he ordered 10 partners in Xinjiang to prepare the attack.
The 10 partners set off explosives and slashed people with knives at the exit of the South Railway Station of Urumqi at around 7:10 p.m. on April 30, Xinhua reported.
China has responded to the recent attacks by stepping up security nationwide, issuing regular police with handguns in many large cities, and carrying out regular patrols by heavily armed counterterrorism forces in politically sensitive areas.
Local authorities in Xinjiang have launched a security crackdown, detaining and arresting dozens of people suspected of inciting or participating in separatist activities, according to state media.
—Olivia Geng
contributed to this article.
