BEIJING – A car driven by a suicide bomber rammed the gates of the Chinese embassy in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, on Tuesday and exploded, reportedly killing the driver and injuring three others.
The Mitsubishi Delica broke through the embassy gate, drove about 50 meters and then burst into flames according to local and Chinese media reports. Photographs and video from the scene showed smoke rising from the compound.
A local news site, 24.kg, reported that both the Chinese and U.S. embassies were being evacuated.
Officials from Kyrgyzstan and China offered conflicting accounts of what happened and why.
Kyrgystan’s Deputy Primer Minister reportedly called it a “terrorist” attack and said three Kyrgyz nationals were killed.
In a press conference, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying, steered clear of using the word “terror,” calling the incident an “extreme violet attack” that injured three Chinese nationals.
“So far, no individual or organization has claimed to be responsible for this attack. We have urged Kyrgyzstan to get bottom to this incident and release the investigation result as soon as possible,” she said.
With little information publicly available about the attacker’s motives, Hua avoided using the word “terrorism.”
China’s ruling Communist Party says it is engaged in a “war on terror” against militant groups with links to Xinjiang, a vast, restive territory that shares a border with Kyrgyzstan.
Foreign observers and rights groups have long questioned the nature of the campaign, accusing China of using the threat of terror to target the region’s mostly Muslim, Turkic-speaking Uighur minority.
Kyrgyz authorities, who have also grappled with Islamic extremism in the past, said they are investigating the attack.
One of the three suicide bombers that attacked Istanbul’s airport on June 28 was identified as a Kyrgyz national.
Photo: Associated Press Photo
—
(c) 2016, The Washington Post · Emily Rauhala ·
