Two weeks ago, 34 people were killed and 130 injured in a mass stabbing attack at the Kunming railway station in Yunnan, China. Reports said as many as 10 black-clad assailants wielding knives and machetes attacked people at random. The event caused shock in China and around the world, with many referring to it as the “Chinese 9/11.” Just days before, an Al Qaeda-affiliated group released a video threatening China. And this week, that video gained much greater significance, when Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared without a trace. …

According to the Chinese State Press agency, flags of the “East Turkistan Forces” were found at the scene of the Kunming railway station attack. Five days prior, the Turkestan Islamic Party published a video titled “We Are Coming O Buddhists,” in which Abu Zar Azzam, the spiritual leader of an Al Qaeda offshoot based in Waziristan, threatened Chinese nationals and Buddhists.

This trend is coming under increased scrutiny because of the disappearance on Saturday of the Boeing 777 MH370 somewhere over the South China Sea en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with more than 150 Chinese nationals on board. Chinese social media networks were immediately abuzz with speculation over the possibility that that Uyghur separatists are responsible. This time, however, the Chinese government is cautioning the public over drawing such conclusions.

The Uyghurs have been implicated in a previous hijacking attempt. In June 2012, the Chinese government claimed that six Uyghur men attempted to hijack a Chinese domestic flight. The World Uyghur Congress rejected the government’s account and claimed that the incident was in fact a dispute that broke out over seating arrangements.

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  Al Qaida and the missing Malaysian flight 370, Background-Brief.com, China’s Uyghurs minority