Terrorists and Athletes: Who Needs the Olympics Most It all happened four days before the Beijing Olympics opened. The attack on the military unit was swift. A terrorist jumped out of a dump truck and started wielding a knife. The second threw explosives at the barracks, then burst inside with a pistol. The result is 16 killed and the same number of wounded.
The culprits were a greengrocer and a taxi driver. Local residents, Uyghurs by nationality. Muslims. A major center of Uighur autonomy in Xinjiang in northwest China, Kashgar is known for the activities of the “Islamic Movement of East Turkestan”. In 2008, this terrorist organization was particularly active. On the eve of the Olympics, its leaders flooded China with leaflets calling on Uyghur separatists to surrender to jihad and to make 2008 a “year of terrorism and mourning.” The terrorist attack on August 4 was one of the few that could not be avoided. Four months before him, the authorities carried out a large military operation in Uyghur autonomy. According to the testimony of the detainees, they planned the murders and kidnappings of athletes and guests of the Olympics.
Before the start of the Games, Beijing was called a “model of discipline”, and in terms of security, China received an “excellent” international rating. According to Sinologist Nikolai Vavilov, it was important for terrorists to show the weakness, vulnerability and fragility of China: “Whoever prepared the terrorist attack was counting on a wide international resonance, on a painful blow to the world. Image of the country, which is objectively considered one of the safest in the world. China is an anti-leader. by the number of crimes. But, I think, it's still worth the wait that terrorist attacks are prepared on the eve of the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics. -2022 “.
OJ 2008, opening, festivities
Terrorists generally like to choose the venue for the match. On this matter, Sovetsky Sport editor Nikolay Yaremenko said: “There are no other events that attract the attention of the same number of people. Fire in spring and summer from the same year 2008: How many times she was attacked as she crossed continents! Human rights are constantly violated in China. On August 9, an American citizen was killed by an activist with a knife. August 13, two more died in a bomb explosion in a shopping mall.
