China has recently broken up a terrorist ring headed by "East Turkistan" separatists, a spokesman with the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said Thursday.

Wu Heping, spokesman with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, speaks at a news conference in Beijing, capital of China, June 24, 2010.

The terrorist group was involved in the violent attack targeting border police in China's western most city of Kashgar in Xinjiang that killed 17 people and injured 15 in 2008, ministry spokesman Wu Heping told a press conference.

Also that year, the group detonated explosives in supermarkets, hotels and government buildings -- killing two civilians and injuring two police in the region's Kuqa County.

"The break-up of the major terrorist ring proves, once again, terrorist groups including the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) remains the principal terrorist threat facing China at present and in the near future," Wu said.

He said Chinese police would strike hard against all kinds of terrorist activities in accordance with law.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang also said on Thursday that the "East Turkistan" forces must be severely cracked down on both inside and outside China.

He said the three forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism were threatening regional security and stability in some provinces of China.

The international community, especially countries in the region, has reached a consensus on fighting against terrorism, including the "East Turkistan" forces, said Qin.

The MPS's announcement came just a few days ahead of the one-year anniversary of the start of the deadly riot on July 5 last year in the regional capital Urumqi, which left 197 people dead and more than 1,700 injured.

"Chinese police want to show they are determined to and capable of combating the 'East Turkistan' terrorist forces," said Pan Zhiping, a researcher at the Central Asia studies institute under the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences.

As part of Xinjiang's drive to beef up security measures, the region recruited 5,000 police this year, a source with the public security department of Xinjiang told Xinhua Thursday.

The policemen have been assigned the tasks of checking violent crimes, doing street patrols and dealing with emergencies, the source said, adding that stronger mobile police forces are now operating in Urumqi, Kashgar, Hotan and Aksu.

In Urumqi, police have started drills to deal with emergencies, initiated campaigns to confiscate guns, explosives and launched a harsh crackdown against violent crimes this month.

A total of 1,000 policemen have been temporarily sent to grassroots-level police stations in Urumqi to increase patrols and upgrade police capacity in dealing with emergencies, the city's police bureau chief Wang Mingshan said.

When giving more details on the capture of the terrorist ring, MPS spokesman Wu Heping said the Chinese police have caught more than 10 members of the terrorist group, including two ringleaders.

The two ringleaders, both natives of Xinjiang, were identified as Abdurixit Ablet, 42, and Imin Semai'er, 33.

Police investigations showed Abdurixit Ablet was sent by ETIM separatists from abroad and Imin Semai'er was a backbone member of the "East Turkistan" terrorist forces.

The two men and their aides confessed to police that they had prepared knives, axes and self-made explosives, and planned to launch a series of terrorist attacks in Xinjiang's Kashgar, Hotan and Aksu from July to October 2009, according to Wu.

After the police foiled their plans, they fled to China's southern provinces of Guangdong and Yunnan and contacted leaders of the terrorist group ETIM by email, Wu said.

They asked for road maps from the ETIM as they attempted to cross the border, Wu said.

Police investigations indicated that overseas-based "East Turkistan" groups had provided financial aid and sent people to help them flee.

Police revealed investigations into an illegal cross border case last year had led them to three members of the terrorist group, led by Abdurixit Ablet and Imin Semai'er.

On December 20 last year, Chinese police received 20 Chinese people who were expelled from an unidentified neighboring country for illegal entry into that country. After investigations, the police found three of them were terrorist suspects at large, according to Wu.?