2011 Hotan attack

Terrorist attack in Xinjiang, China May 2023 2011 Hotan attack Xinjiang conflict Location of Hotan County within Xinjiang (China).png Hotan, Xinjiang, China Police, civilians 18 July 2011 12:00 p.m. 1:30 p.m. UTC+08:00 Invasion of police station, hostage crisis 18 (14 attackers, two security personnel, two hostages) Four hostages East Turkestan Islamic Movement Molotov cocktails, grenades, knives Nuerbage Street police station st 和田骚乱 和阗骚乱 Hotan incident Hétián sāoluàn h e 2 t ian 2 - s ao 1 l uan 4 Alternate name 和田7·18严重暴力恐怖事件 Hotan July 18th serious violent terrorist incident Hétián 7·18 yánzhòng bàolì kǒngbù shìjiàn h e 2 t ian 2 - q i 1 shi 2 b a 1 - yan 2 zh ong 4 - b ao 4 l i 4 - k ong 3 b u 4 - shi 4 j ian 4 On 18 July 2011, a group of 18 ethnic Uyghur militants in Hotan, Xinjiang, China occupied a police station on Nuerbage Street at noon, killing two security guards and taking eight hostages. The attackers then yelled religious slogans, including ones associated with Jihadism, as they took down a Chinese flag flying from the police station. After a firefight with police around 1:30 p.m., 14 attackers were killed, and 4 were captured. 6 of the hostages were rescued alive, while 2 were killed in the attack. Local and national governments said the attack was organized terrorism motivated by religious extremism, and found that two of the attackers had links to the militant East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). A team from China's counter-terrorism office was sent to Hotan to investigate the attack. ETIM acknowledged responsibility for the attack on 8 September, as well as for the attacks in Kashgar later that same July. Later in September, 6 men received prison or death sentences for their involvement in both attacks. Background Islamic dress controversy in Europe Hotan is a city of 360,000 people in Hotan Prefecture, China. The city received few domestic tourists because of terrorism fears, and southern Xinjiang officials made efforts to integrate the region into the international economy by creating a special economic zone in nearby Kashgar. Hotan had recently celebrated the opening of the city's first passenger-train service in June. Since the July 2009 Ürümqi riots, many religious Hotan women of an older age began to wear a long face-concealing Islamic garment, which is more similar to the uniform of the female Chechen suicide bomber than to traditional Uyghur attire.https://www.economist.com/asia/2011/07/30/let-them-shoot-hoops Let them shoot hoops 30 July 2011 The EconomistUygur resentment at 'unfair' practices Chi-yuk Choi South China Morning Post 23 July 2011 Authorities became concerned with the fashion trend after a spate of murders and robberies outside Hotan where the perpetrators wore face-concealing veils, so they ineffectively campaigned to discourage women from wearing the veils, using slogans such as "show off your pretty looks and let your beautiful long hair fly".Ban on Islamic dress sparked Uygur attack Chi-yuk Choi Hotan 22 July 2011 South China Morning Post Uyghur terrorist attacks usually take the form of IEDs and vehicle-borne bombs in heavily policed areas.https://www.sfgate.com/world/article/China-Deadly-attack-on-police-station-in-Xinjiang-2354099.php China: Deadly attack on police station in Xinjiang Richburg, Keith B. 19 July 2011 29 July 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Hotan had previously been the site of a riot in July 1995Clarke Michael Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism 10.1086/706708 https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/706708 8 July 2026 as well as a series of attacks in 1999.Millward James Violent Separatism in Xinjiang: A Critical Assessment Violent Separatism in Xinjiang 2004 JSTOR i–58 https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep06542.1?seq=1 Compared to the 1990s, attacks from 2000 onward have tended to claim civilian as well as traditional police and bureaucratic targets.The Bloody Weekend Yongsun Cheng Xiaodong Yu News China 23–25 October 2011 Attack According to a subsequent investigation, a group of 18 anti-government religious extremists arrived in Hotan from Kashgar on 16 July 2 days before the attack; they brought "several dozen different knives including cleavers, axes and switchblades" with them. The men, Uyghurs between the age of 20 and 35, prepared for the attack at the local bazaar, buying materials to create explosives.https://www.deseret.com/2011/7/20/20204751/china-says-14-extremists-killed-in-xinjiang-attack/ China says 14 extremists killed in Xinjiang attack Alexa Olesen Associated Press 19 July 2011 29 July 2011Xinjiang police 'shot dead 14 thugs' Chi-yuk Choi Tze-wei Ng 21 July 2011 The attack was executed on 18 July, around the Iktar Grand Bazaar in the center of Hotan, when the group entered a government building and took several hostages. According to witnesses, the men approached the gates of the Nuerbage (Naarburg) Street police station around noon with weapons concealed in cardboard boxes, stabbing a Uyghur security guard to death when they got close enough. The guard, Memet Eli, was 25 years old and engaged to be married in September. After killing Eli, the men shouted slogans in Uyghur denouncing the government's campaign against the Islamic veil, in what onlookers described as Kashgar and Aksu accents. Variously described as "terrorists", "rioters", or "thugs" in accounts, the men proceeded to storm the police building wielding molotov cocktails, knives, and grenades. Shouting jihadist slogans such as "Allah is the only god!"https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/china-says-clash-in-west-that-killed-at-least-4-was-terror-attack-exile-group-rejects-claim/2011/07/19/gIQAf7mGNI_story.html https://web.archive.org/web/20181113170014/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/china-says-clash-in-west-that-killed-at-least-4-was-terror-attack-exile-group-rejects-claim/2011/07/19/gIQAf7mGNI_story.html dead 13 November 2018 China says 14 rioters were killed by police in Xinjiang attack 19 July 2011 29 July 2011 The Washington Post and "Holy war!" they broke into the police station, wherein they took police hostages, smashed computer hardware and furniture, and set fires, killing an auxiliary police officer.警方:"7·18"袭击派出所事件属严重暴力恐怖事件 https://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2011-07/21/content_1910574.htm Central Chinese governmentChina raises Xinjiang police station death toll to 18 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/20/china-xinjiang-police-station-death-toll The Guardian Two Uyghur women submitting forms inside the police office were trapped inside a smoky room before being rescued through the windows by street vendors. The men proceeded to take down the Chinese flag atop the police station and reportedly raised a banner carrying "extremist religious slogans" and a blue half-moon flag. Nuerbage police station chief Abulaiti Maitiniyazi (Ablet Metniyaz) was a witness to the attack. He recalled shouting to the men in Uyghur for a peaceful settlement, but receiving molotov cocktails and rocks in return. People's Armed Police PFC Wu Yanjie2011-07-22 新疆和田武警举行吴艳杰烈士追悼会 https://news.ifeng.com/c/7fa2Hg7x0WD#p=1 2025-04-02 Phoenix TelevisionLi Wei 2011-07-25 英雄吴艳杰魂归故里 http://www.zhld.com/zkwb/html/2011-07/25/content_178565.htm 2025-04-02 Zhoukou Daily was killed by a molotov cocktail when his squad was forcibly entering the ground level. Security forces engaged the attackers inside the station, killing 14 and capturing the other 4, ending the attack within 90 minutes of the initial break-in.http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-07/21/content_12947603.htm Attack on police station was 'long-planned Wei Shao China Daily 21 July 2011 25 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110721052839/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-07/21/content_12947603.htm 21 July 2011 live Six of the eight hostages were rescued alive, while two Han female hostages were killed by the assailants, and four Uyghurs were hospitalized for non-life-threatening injuries. Reaction The Xinjiang regional government called the incident an organized, "long-planned" "terrorist attack", and a team from China's national counter-terrorism office was sent to Hotan to investigate the causes of the violence. Media called it "one of the most serious eruptions of violence" since the July 2009 Ürümqi riots. An expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations said that the attack aimed to create fear in the public. On 19 July, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Public Security announced that two of the 18 attackers had links to ETIM.http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2011/07/understanding-hotan-xinjiang-riot-in.html Understanding the Hotan (Xinjiang) Riot in China D.S. Rajan Ashok Tiku 29 July 2011 29 July 2011 Chennai Sri Lanka Guardian https://web.archive.org/web/20250824151028/https://www.srilankaguardian.org/2011/07/understanding-hotan-xinjiang-riot-in.html 24 August 2025 Citing the deaths of Uyghur civilians in the attack, a government spokesperson said that the attack was apparently not ethnically motivated. But the environment in the city after the attack bore signs of ethnic tension. Many Han residents of the city feared for their lives, recalling a spate recent violent crimes against Han people by Uyghurs in Hotan.Hotan attack takes a toll on business Chi-yuk Choi South China Morning Post Hotan 25 July 2011 Many businesses owned by Han shut down, and both local and visiting Han are said to have "almost disappeared in the Uygur-dominated areas". On 13 August, the elite counterterrorist Snow Leopard Commando Unit was deployed to Hotan and Kashgar to secure the cities ahead of the China-Eurasia Expo in September.https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j4Z3aAlKfGhfEPB4N8-J9wGFro1w https://archive.today/20130124191224/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j4Z3aAlKfGhfEPB4N8-J9wGFro1w dead 24 January 2013 China sends anti-terror unit to restive Xinjiang 13 August 2011 15 August 2011 Agence France-Presse The anti-China pro-Uyghur independence World Uyghur Congress (WUC) in Germany claimed that the attack was preceded by the violent suppression of a peaceful protest two hours earlier.Xinjiang clash killed 20, says exile group. 19 July 2011 South China Morning Posthttp://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/20/inside-china-110063105/ Inside China Miles Yu The Washington Times 20 June 2011 21 July 2012 However, the Financial Times interviewed local Han and Uyghur residents, and none of them had any knowledge of a demonstration before the attack.http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6a1558cc-b39d-11e0-b56c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1TOSCFiJu Tense mood prevails after Xinjiang attack Kathrin Hille Hotan 21 July 2011 29 July 2011 Financial Times A local government spokesperson also denied that there was a mass protest before the attack. WUC spokesperson Dilxadi Rexiti (zh 迪里夏提, also known as Dilxat Raxi) accused the authorities of lying, rhetorically asking "If the attack was premeditated, why didn't the police take precautions". Several Indian security analysts suggested that Pakistan-based terror groups were linked to the attack.https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/analysts-see-pakistan-terror-links-to-xinjiang-attack/article2277362.ece Analysts see Pakistan terror links to Xinjiang attack Ananth Krishnan 21 July 2011 29 July 2011 The Hindu Both the director of the Institute of Central Asia at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences and Chinese counter-terrorist expert Li Wei alluded to the influence of foreign terrorist organizations in the attack without mentioning any specific country.http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-20/china/29793567_1_uyghur-east-turkistan-islamic-movement-contemporary-international-relations https://web.archive.org/web/20120916205416/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-20/china/29793567_1_uyghur-east-turkistan-islamic-movement-contemporary-international-relations dead 16 September 2012 China finally ready to admit Pak's role in Xinjiang violence Saibal Dasgupta The Times of India 20 July 2011 29 July 2011 On 8 September, the US-based terrorist monitoring group SITE reported on a video made by ETIM leader Abdul Shakoor Damla claiming responsibility for the July Hotan and Kashgar attacks on behalf of his group.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14834042 Islamic militant group 'behind Xinjiang attacks' 8 September 2011 8 October 2011 BBC News On 14 September, the Xinjiang Legal Daily reported that 6 men were tried for their involvement in the Hotan and Kashgar attacks. 4 were given death sentences, and 2 were given 19-year jail terms, for charges including "leading and organizing a terror group, manufacturing illegal explosives, intentional homicide, [and] arson".https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iOpqZmsdAMEIxkU8IsMofjfnrqmA China sentences 4 Uighur men to death over attacks Alexa Olsen Associated Press 4 September 2011 8 October 2011June 2024 medicmedic Xinjiang authorities have unveiled a package of policy responses to the attacks to placate Muslim Uyghurs, which include increasing quotas for Uyghur participation in local government and increasing government subsidies for religious schools. References 30em 37.1000 N 80.0167 E source:wikidata title Category:2011 building bombings Category:July 2011 crimes in Asia Category:2011 mass murders Category:Terrorist incidents in China in 2011 Category:21st-century mass murders in China Category:21st century in Xinjiang Category:Hotan Category:People shot dead by law enforcement officers in China Category:Xinjiang conflict Category:Islamic terrorism in China Category:Attacks on police stations in 2011 Category:Turkistan Islamic Party Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 2011 Category:2011 murders in China Category:Building bombings in China Category:July 2011 in China Category:Hostage taking in China Category:Grenade attacks in Asia Category:Attacks on police stations in China Category:Crime in Xinjiang Category:Arson in China Category:Arson in 2011 Category:2011 fires in Asia Category:Building and structure fires in China Category:Chinese police officers killed in the line of duty