China executes 13 in Xinjiang for terror attacks

China has reportedly executed 13 people in the western province of Xinjiang for terrorist attacks.

According to the BBC and as reported by state-run news agency Xinhua, those executed were accused of several crimes including participating in terrorist groups; murder; arson; theft; and illegal manufacture, storage and transportation of explosives. They were also believed to be responsible for the attacks in June 2013 that killed 24 people.

The report said that several of those executed belonged to Xinjiang's Muslim ethnic minority Uighurs who have also been blamed by Beijing for a string of attacks around China, including deadly bomb and knife attacks on railway stations in Urumqi in Xinjiang, and Kunming in south-west China.

Many activists believe that the threat from Uighur separatists has been greatly exaggerated by Beijing in order to justify a crackdown on the Uighurs' religious and cultural freedoms. Uighur leaders across China refuted any claims that they are organizing terrorist attacks.

The reports could not be verified as the flow of information from the Xinjiang region is tightly controlled.