By Xinhua,
Urumqi : Crowds demanding security guarantees gathered at a number of places in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang region in China, Thursday morning following hypodermic syringe attacks in the city.
More than 1,000 people gathered in Xiaoximen area, a police officer said.
People also turned out in big crowds at the Renmin Cinema and Beiyuanchun farmers’ wholesale market.
The police officer said people took to the streets around the market after a man stabbed a five-year-old girl Thursday morning, the latest in a string of attacks by hypodermic syringes.
Members of the Uighur ethnic minority were also among the protesting crowds.
The attacks come less than two months after riots in the city in which 197 people were killed and 1,600 injured.
Zhu Hailun, head of the political and legal affairs commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) committee in Xinjiang, said members of nine ethnic groups, including the Han, Uighur, Hui, Kazak and Mongolian, had reported stabbing incidents to the police in recent days.
Police have seized 15 suspects for attacking people with hypodermic needles in Urumqi, said Zhu.