More violence in western China

Source: AP

KUQA, China - Attackers jumped from a vehicle and slashed at civilian guards at a roadside checkpoint in China's far west on Tuesday, killing three and extending a surge of violence that has accompanied the Olympic Games in Beijing.

It was the third deadly attack in nine days in Xinjiang, an oil- and gas-rich region on the border with Afghanistan, Pakistan and six Central Asian nations where Islamic separatists have fought the central government for years.

No one has claimed responsibility for the knife attacks. Government officials call them terrorism and insist they have nothing to do with the Olympics. They have not produced any evidence to back up their claims.

Experts say at least one of the recent attacks signaled a new level of sophistication for the region, but that there was no enough information known about them to say with any certainty who was behind them.

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