China thwarts Olympic terrorist attacks

[THE BOUNCER]

(CNN) -- Chinese officials told the state-run media Sunday that they successfully thwarted two terrorist attacks, including one targeting the Summer Olympic Games.

Officials blamed both attacks on separatists operating out of an autonomous region in northwest China.

According to one report in Xinhua, militants who were killed earlier this year in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were planning an attack on the Games, set to begin on August 8.

The news agency did not provide additional information on the plot.

The autonomous region is home to about 19 million people, most of whom are Muslims and other minorities. Many of them oppose Beijing's rule.

Also Sunday, another Chinese official told Xinhua that a China Southern Airlines plane was forced to land because "some people were attempting to create an air disaster."

The flight had taken off from Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The militants' attempt to hijack the plane was foiled by the flight crew, the official said.

Wang Lequan, chief of the Xinjiang regional committee of the Communist Party of China, said the government was prepared to strike against the "three evil forces" in the region: terrorists, separatists and extremists.

"We are prepared to strike them when the evil forces are planning their activities," he told Xinhua.

Report: China thwarts terrorist attacks - CNN.com

[Nekrawulf]

or so they say