China calls deadly knife attack the nation’s ‘9/11’
China’s state media called Saturday night’s knifing attack at a train station in Kunming “China’s 9/11” and called for a crackdown on terrorism.
The death toll from the attack rose to 33 with four of the perpetrators among the dead. One suspect is in custody, a woman, who was reported to be hospitalized. The perpetrators were said to be Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from northwestern China’s Xinjiang region.
Chinese authorities showed on a television station a black flag recovered at the scene which they said was calling for independence for the region that some Uighurs refer to as East Turkestan.
The stabbing spree, which started after 9 p.m. Kunming time Saturday, is one of the worst attacks of its kind in China. According to multiple sources, about 10 assailants dressed in black swept through the crowds stabbing and hacking people with knifes that they had concealed in their clothing.
“It was a typical terrorist attack and also a severe crime against humanity. It was China’s 9/11,” the Communist Party-affiliated Global Times wrote in an editorial published Sunday morning.
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