2012 Yecheng attack

The 2012 Yecheng attack was a terrorist attack by Uyghur separatist extremists that occurred on February 28, 2012, in Yecheng, Xinjiang, a remote town situated about 150 miles from China's border with Pakistan. Details of the attack are disputed: according to Chinese government reports and court documents, at around 6 p.m. that day, a group of eight Uyghur men led by religious extremist Abudukeremu Mamuti attacked pedestrians with axes and knives on Happiness Road. Local police fought with the attackers, ultimately killing all and capturing Mamuti. State-run media reported that one police officer died and four police were injured, while 15 pedestrians died from Mamuti's assault and 14 more civilians were injured. Chinese officials characterized the event as a "terrorist attack."

Exiled Uyghur groups offered conflicting accounts of the clash, which they claim was precipitated by increased ethnic and religious restrictions and widespread arbitrary arrests by authorities.^[1] The Germany-based World Uyghur Congress claimed that the attacks targeted security personnel—not civilians—and that fighting resulted in the deaths of ten Uyghurs, seven police officers, and five others.^[2][3] Radio Free Asia reported that a group of Uyghurs had killed three ethnic Han, and that police killed 12 young Uyghurs.^[4]

Mamuti was convicted of terrorism and homicide-related crimes on March 26, in a trial that Uyghur groups overseas said did not comply with international legal standards.