Hundreds have been killed in Xinjiang in the past two years, most in violence between the Muslim Uighur people, who call the region home, and the ethnic majority Han Chinese. After a period of relative calm, there has been an up-tick in violence in recent weeks, particularly in the region’s south. On Tuesday, three knife-wielding attackers killed five people and injured another five in Pishan County, in Hotan prefecture. The government has blamed much of the unrest on separatist Islamist militants, although rights groups and exiles say anger at tightening Chinese controls on the religion and culture of Muslim Uighurs is more to blame. Chinese authorities have also increasingly imposed travel restrictions on Uighurs, and late last year began ordering Xinjiang residents in Xinjiang to turn in their passports to police.

Source: Dhaka Tribune February 17, 2017 04:07 UTC