China says separatist group carried out deadly train station attack in western region

BEIJING – China says a deadly attack at a train station in the western Xinjiang region last month was planned outside the country and carried out by a separatist militant group.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Sunday that the East Turkistan Islamic Movement was behind the attack in Urumqi that killed three people and injured 79 others.

East Turkistan is the name used for Xinjiang by some members of the region's native Uighur (pronounced WEE'-gur) ethnic group, extremists among which have been fighting a low-intensity insurgency against Chinese rule.

China says the ETIM has ties to overseas supporters of Uighur separatism. The U.S. initially placed it on a terrorist watch list following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but later quietly removed it amid doubts that it existed in any organized manner.