Eight indicted in Tian'anman attack case in China

BEIJING: Eight suspected Islamic militants from China's volatile Xinjiang province have been indicted for their roles in a terrorist attack at Beijing's Tian'anman Square in October last year.

People's Procuratorate of Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, accused the eight of organising, leading and participating a terrorist group and endangering public security with dangerous method, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.

The eight will stand trial at the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court, it said.

Usmen Hasan, his wife Gulkiz Gini and mother Kuwanhan Reyim drove a jeep to crash into a crowd of people near the Jinshui Bridge across the moat of the iconic Forbidden City on October 28 last year.

Five people, including the three who were stated to be suicide attackers, were killed and 40 others injured.

The jeep finally crashed into a guardrail of Jinshui Bridge and the three people in the jeep died after they set gasoline inside the vehicle on fire.

The assault was the first major attack by the Xinjiang militants outside the restive province.

China alleged that East Turkistan Islamic Movement, an al-Qaeda backed group, was behind the attack. A total of eight suspects were captured in connection with the attack.