A XINJIANG court sentenced eight people to death yesterday in connection with two terrorist attacks that occurred in April and May in the regional capital of Urumqi.

    Following their first trial, the Intermediate People’s Court of Urumqi also sentenced another five people to death with a two-year reprieve, and four others to jail, according to the local publicity department of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. A sentence of suspended death in China is usually tantamount to life in prison.

    Xinjiang saw its bloodiest day in five years May 22 when 39 people were killed and 94 were injured in an attack on a market in Urumqi when attackers hurled explosives out of the windows of two SUVs. On April 30, three people were killed and 79 were injured in a terror attack at a railway station in the city.

    Guo Shengkun, minister of public security, pledged severe punishment and tough measures to crack down on terrorism during an inspection tour in August of Xinjiang, reiterating the determination to fight a “people’s war against terrorism.”

    (Xinhua)