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China Executes 2 for Attack in Xinjiang


Chinese authorities say they executed two men on Thursday in the restive far-west region of Xinjiang for a deadly attack on border police four days before the Olympic Games last year.

Court officials announced the decision to execute Abdurahman Azat, 34, and Kurbanjan Hemit, 29, to an audience of about 4,000 local officials and residents at a stadium in Kashgar.

The execution was carried out later in private at a separate location.

The two men were members of China's predominantly Muslim Uighur minority.

The attack was the worst of several before and during the Olympics that left dozens of people dead. China claims separatist militants from the northwest region intended use the heightened media attention on China to gain publicity for their cause.

The two men were sentenced to death in December for carrying out the August 4 attack in Kashgar and intending to "sabotage" the Olympics.

Seventeen people were killed and 15 wounded when the men drove a truck into a group of policemen and then attacked them with bombs and knives.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

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