As the 16 police officers killed in the violent attack in Kashgar were mourned, officials vowed to defend against any terrorist actions during the Games. From Reuters:
Officials attending the funeral called the bomb attack “provocation to the nation and the people” and vowed to do their utmost to “severely punish any violent terrorists” in order not to let the “martyrs’ blood have been shed in vain”, Xinhua said.
“The Olympic security work has entered a decisive battle stage and the situation in the struggle against hostile forces is extremely grim and complicated,” it quoted an unnamed security official as saying.
“We must transform sorrow into strength and always keep high morale in our work, which is centred on the security of the Olympics,” the official added.About 100,000 police and soldiers are on standby ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony, and security has been stepped up in the capital and across the vast country.
Meanwhile, a U.S. monitoring service says a video threat has been made online against Olympics venues. From AP:
The video, reported Thursday by the IntelCenter, follows the posting of a similar video dated July 23. Both are attributed to the Turkistan Islamic Party, which experts say is an offshoot of a secessionist group from China’s Central Asian frontier with ties to al-Qaida.
IntelCenter said the latest video was dated Aug. 1 and features “graphics showing a burning Olympics logo and an explosion imposed over one of the venues.”
