China today deployed armed patrol vehicles in Beijing to deal with violent incidents and recurring knife attacks by militants, three weeks ahead of the 25th anniversary of the infamous Tiananmen crackdown.
Beijing Police deployed 150 armed patrol vehicles that will become the "principal forces" in countering street terrorism and violent attacks by militants from western Xinjiang region.
China has laready deployed such forces in many cities after a spate of dramatic knife attacks at railway stations causing heavy casualties.
Beijing Public Security Bureau said the patrols will be responsible for incidents involving guns, bombs, mass violence or terrorism.
The vehicles, stationed at main intersections with heavy traffic, will be a deterrent to terrorists, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The patrol forces will cover the main streets of Beijing, with each vehicle covering no more than three kilometres. Each vehicle will be deployed with nine policemen and four assistants. The police are required to reach the scene of incident within three minutes of receiving a report.
China has seen a dramatic surge in horrific knife attacks including in Kunming, Urumqi and Guangzhou.
Last year, a fiery vehicle crash in Beijing's Tiananmen Square was followed by a knife assault in March at a railway station in Kunming, which left 29 dead and 143 wounded.
Beijing police have run at least three anti-terror drills over the past three weeks to improve responsiveness and coordination. The latest drill on Thursday involved a chopper and more than 30 vehicles from SWAT units, traffic control and other emergency response departments.
The move came three weeks ahead of the sensitive June 4 anniversary of the brutal suppression of anti-government protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. By some estimates, thousands were killed in the incident.
The People's Public Security University of China announced recently that it would recruit 80 students across the country for its new anti-terrorism course.
Major units of the course include research on terrorist organisations, international cooperation, risk assessment, reconnaissance and evidence collection, the Beijing Youth Daily cited sources with the university as saying.
