Bomb threat: China diverts Afghan plane
August 10th, 2009 - 3:39 pm ICT by IBNSBeijing, Aug 10 (IBNS) An Afghan plane scheduled to land in China’s western region of Xinjiang that was rocked by ethnic riots last month was diverted to southern Afghanistan by a bomb threat, state media said on Sunday.
The official Xinhua reported past midnight on Saturday that the plane has been “bomb threatened” and was moving towards Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province.
Xinhua had earlier reported that the plane had been hijacked, but then quoting diplomatic sources in Kabul at 1.40am on Monday said the China-bound Afghan plane suspected of being threatened by a bomb has landed in Kandahar. It gave no more details.
The agency did not identify the airline or the type of plane, but said the airport in Urumqi had been told to not to allow the plane to land.
However, a press officer for NATO forces in Afghanistan, which control the Kandahar airport, said the alliance had received no report of a plane forced to land there.
“I doubt that anything like that has taken place,” US Navy Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo said. “That’s a significant activity. If something that significant happens we would know about it.”
The government has said that Urumqi has slowly been returning to normal since the riots in July between ethnic Uighurs and Han Chinese which killed 197 people.
In early August, an Internet message purportedly from the leader of an Islamic group urged Muslims to attack Chinese interests in retaliation for what it called the oppression of minority Uighurs.
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Tags: afghan plane, bomb threat, brian naranjo, chief petty officer, chinese interests, diplomatic sources, early august, internet message, islamic group, kabul, kandahar airport, nato forces in afghanistan, navy chief petty officer, retaliation, riots, southern afghanistan, uighurs, us navy, xinhua, xinjiang province