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China today said Islamic militants active in its restive Xinjiang province posed "realistic threat" and vowed to step up anti-terror cooperation with "relevant" countries.
The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), an al Qaeda-backed group, is fighting for the separation of Muslim majority Uygur Xinjiang from China.
"ETIM posed realistic threat to some regions in China including Xinjiang. They have caused great casualties and property losses of civilians by committing terrorist activities inside China," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told media briefing.
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She was responding to questions on latest assault in Xinjiang two days ago in which militants armed with gas cylinders and machetes attacked a police convoy, killing 15 people, including three suicide bombers.
Hua said ETIM was ganging up with "international terrorist forces" using internet.
"The threat posed by them on the international security is on the rise. China's is firmly opposed to all forms of terrorism. We believe that to crackdown on the terrorist forces of ETIM is also important part of international campaign against terrorism.
"We would like to enhance cooperation with relevant countries to crackdown terrorist forces including ETIM to jointly maintain international and regional stability," she said.
Media reports have said that ETIM cadres are being trained in camps in Pakistan's tribal Waziristan region along with Taliban and al-Qaeda groups.
Some 190 terrorist attacks were recorded in Xinjiang in 2012, increasing by a significant margin from 2011, according to the regional public security department.
Xinjiang has for years witnessed tensions between the ethnic Muslim Uygurs and Han Chinese over alleged repression and increasing Han settlement in the province.
