China arrests 3 more after deadly train station attack

USPA News - Three more people allegedly involved in last week`s deadly attack on a train station in southwest China were arrested on Monday, state-run media reported, adding that no other suspects were being sought. The state-run Xinhua news agency, quoting a statement from the country`s Ministry of Public Security, said the three remaining suspects were arrested on Monday afternoon.

It did not say where the arrests took place, the identities of the suspects, or any other details. Authorities have blamed Saturday?s attack on a group of eight people from China`s restive region of Xinjiang, led by a person identified as Abdurehim Kurban. Police shot and killed four of the attackers and apprehended one female suspect at the scene of the attack. The attack began at approximately 9:20 p.m. local time on Saturday when the group of eight people attacked a crowd at Kunming Railway Station, one of the largest railway stations in southwest China. The knife-wielding attackers killed 29 people and injured more than 130 others. Yang Haifei, a local resident of Yunnan who was among those injured on Saturday, told Xinhua that as he purchased his ticket, he saw a group of people wearing black uniforms rush into the railway station. "I saw a person come straight at me with a long knife and I ran away with everyone," he told Xinhua earlier. The state-run news agency also reported that airport travelers would be subject to more scrutiny over their body and luggage in the future, adding that airports strengthened security measures and enhanced equipment in response to Saturday`s attack. The train station attack followed a suicide car attack on Beijing`s Tiananmen Square in October 2013, also blamed on a group from Xinjiang. Two people were killed and 40 others were injured when a jeep drove into crowds of tourists and police officers near the entrance to the Forbidden City that bears a giant portrait of communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong. An estimated eight million Uighurs are living in the Central Asian region of Xinjiang, which is officially known as China`s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. A large number of Uighur are reportedly unhappy about the large migrant Han Chinese settlers, accusing them of making their interests less important and generally disregarding their culture. Xinjiang was the scene of violent clashes between Uighur Muslims and Han Chinese in July 2009, leaving 197 people killed and more than 1,700 others injured. The riots were the region`s worst ethnic clashes in decades and the violence only stopped when a large number of troops were deployed to the remote western region. Following the riots, China cut all communications from the region to the rest of the world, including international phone calls, text messaging, and the Internet. Thousands of additional security forces have since been deployed and thousands of `riot-proof` closed-circuit television cameras have been set up in public places in an attempt to discourage any violence or unrest.