Group of unidentified assailants described by authorities as separatists attacked police in Aksu, Xinjiang with knives 18 Sept; at least 40 reported killed, including five police.

Courts in Xinjiang late Aug jailed 45 people convicted of supporting terrorist organisations or helping people flee abroad. FM 4 Aug appealed for U.S. to help fight Xinjiang militants.

Shenyang police 13 July shot dead three alleged “Xinjiang terrorists” and injured woman in raid, also reportedly captured sixteen suspected terrorists; Uighur rights group said those arrested and shot were Uighurs trying to flee country. Police 24 July conducted anti-terrorist raid in Wenzhou, Zheijiang, arrested two Uighurs accused of planning bomb attack in Shijiazhuang mall.

Uighur group 22 June reportedly attacked police checkpoint in Kashgar, Xinjiang; at least eighteen dead including three police and fifteen people suspected of involvement in attack. Police 17 June shot dead Uighur man who “charged” into ticket queue holding brick at railway station in Xi’an. Govt 16 June banned Uighur Muslims from fasting for Ramadan; authorities in Shayar, Xinjiang 15 June issued order calling for close watch on Uighurs during fasting period.

Six reported dead and four injured in two suicide bombing attacks in Hotan and Lop early month; police claimed attackers were ethnic Uighurs, detained more than 200 people including relatives of suspected attackers. State media 25 May reported crackdown on 181 “terror gangs” in Xinjiang. Authorities in Ili prefecture ordered all residents to hand over passports by 15 May amid widening security clamp-down. Police reportedly shot dead two Uighur men who attacked police station in Hotan prefecture late month.

State media 13 April reported plans for anti-terrorism law that would give govt broader surveillance powers. Police reportedly detained hundreds of villagers in Shayar in Xinjiang’s Aksu prefecture during 16 April raid. Prominent Uighur scholar Qamber Amber sentenced to nine years’ jail 21 March for “refusing to co-operate” with authorities. Security forces engaged in three-month anti-terrorist operation in Xinjiang killed three members of ethnic Uighur family and jailed two 7 April. State media 17 April announced two suspected terrorists shot dead on Vietnam border.

Police shot dead seven Uighurs in Kashgar prefecture, Xinjiang, after they allegedly hacked to death four people including local police chief 8 March; police had reportedly earlier shot dead a Uighur woman. Police 12 March reportedly shot dead four Uighurs responsible for knife attack on ethnic Han group in Kashgar; 9 March shot dead up to seven Uighurs in Hotan prefecture. Senior party official in Xinjiang 10 March said some Uighurs fighting alongside Islamic State before returning to Xinjiang “to participate in terrorist plots”; several arrested on return. Three people convicted over March 2014 mass stabbing in Kunming executed 24 March. U.S.-based Uyghur Human Rights Project reported up to 700 killed in political violence in Xinjiang 2013-2014, mostly ethnic Uighurs. Supreme Court reported 712 people convicted for terrorism, separatism and related crimes in 2014, said such offences its top priority in 2015. Draft anti-terrorism law deliberated at National People’s Congress early March, criticised by rights groups.

Radio Free Asia reported three clashes in Xinjiang during month: at least seven killed in reported suicide bomb attack in Hotan prefecture 13 Feb; two killed in clash with police 16 Feb; four police stabbed to death 17 Feb, nine suspected assailants and four bystanders also killed.

Local media reported Xinjiang police shot dead six people allegedly trying to detonate bomb in Shule, Kashgar prefecture. State media reported police shot dead two ethnic Uighurs trying to cross border into Vietnam 18 Jan; govt said hundreds crossing border each year to join terrorist training camps. Five dead following clash at checkpoint in Hotan prefecture, Xinjiang late Jan. Govt extended anti-terrorism campaign introduced May 2014 to end of year.

Urumqi court 8 Dec sentenced eight people to death for role in deadly April/May terror attacks. Three people injured in knife attack in Urumqi, Xinjiang 15 Dec; police detained suspect, did not give motive. Urumqi authorities approved ban on women wearing face-covering veils in public.