Terrorist sentenced to death in China

A Chinese court has sentenced to death a terrorist involved in a major terrorist attack that killed 15 people and left 14 others injured in China's northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The Kashgar Intermediate People's Court on Monday convicted Abdulkiram Mamut of homicide and organising terrorist activities, the official media reported on Tuesday.

Mamut, a Uighur man, was found promoting religious extremism and leading an eight-member terrorist group from July 2011 to February 2012.

On February 28, 2012, Mamut gathered eight members in his house and handed knives and axes to them for a terrorist attack, state-run Shanghai Daily reported.

Mamut and his gang attacked the innocent passers-by on a pedestrian street in the town of Yecheng. Their killing spree left 13 people dead at the scene, two more died in the hospital, and another 14 injured in the barbaric act.

Mamut was arrested from the spot, whereas seven of his team members were shot dead and another died in a hospital. During their rampage, one police assistant was killed and four policemen were injured.

The court said Mamut committed an extremely brutal crime against innocent people and the attack had grave consequences. In July 2009, Uighurs rioted against Han Chinese in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang.

Nearly 200 people were killed in the riots, most of them Han. China has accused Uighur terrorists groups of running an anti-government campaign against Chinese rule in the oil-rich region.