Chinese group vows Olympic Games attacks
By Jill Drew
updated 5:38 a.m. CT, Sun., July. 27, 2008
BEIJING - A group calling itself the Turkestan Islamic Party has released a video asserting responsibility for deadly bus bombings last week in China's western Yunnan province and other recent incidents, and threatening attacks during the Olympic Games.
The Chinese government, which has warned that terrorism is the biggest threat to the Olympics and has mounted a massive security effort, played down the group's claims, some of which were inconsistent with details of the incidents.
Police officials in Yunnan and in Shanghai, where a bus explosion in May killed three people, said there was no evidence the two attacks were connected to terrorists, state media reported.
In the video, a man identified as Commander Seyfullah says the group aims "to target the most critical points related to the Olympics."
"We will try to attack Chinese central cities severely, using the tactics that have never been employed," he says, according to a translation provided by IntelCenter, a terrorism research firm based in Alexandria, Va.