[RFA] A knife attack orchestrated by alleged separatists at a coal mine in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region has resulted in at least 40 casualties, including the deaths of five police officers, and several suspects are believed to be on the lam.The attack began at around 3:00 a.m. on Sept. 18 when a band of knife-wielding suspects set upon security guards at the Sogan Colliery in Aksu prefecture, Jamal Eysa, the chief of state security police at a neighboring mine. He said, "The attack started at security gate of the colliery, which was watched by some 20 security guards at the time. The residence of the colliery owner was the second target and, at the end, [the suspects] attacked police as they approached the area to control the situation."
Eysa said he received a phone call from the mayor of Bay township later that day ordering him to patrol area streets and prepare for a potential attack against the Bay Colliery where he is stationed, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the Sogan Colliery in Terek township.
An official notice Eysa received suggested the incident at Sogan was "a long-planned, well-prepared, large-scale attack by separatists against police officers and mine owners at a coal field in our county."
People who took part in the operation against the attackers told Eysa the suspects were from "neighboring farms" and that they had "taken control of the dynamite at the colliery."
"That is why they were able to do such severe damage to our police team and to the Han businessman and factory owners," Eysa said without providing details about whether any explosives were used by the suspects.
Eysa estimated that "at least 40 people were killed or injured, including police officers, security guards, mine owners and managers, and attackers."
He said, "Even though four days have passed since the incident, raiding operations are ongoing, so I believe that at least some of the attackers are alive and on the run."