5 Arrested in Tiananmen 'Terrorist' Attack

Five people have been arrested in connection with what Chinese authorities are calling a "terrorist attack" in Tiananmen Square on Monday. The cops say the car that plowed into crowds and burst into flames, killing five, contained gasoline, knives, and a jihadist flag, reports Reuters. The man identified by police as the driver, Usmen Hasan, had a Uighur name, and was joined in the vehicle by his wife and mother, the AP reports. The five arrested in relation to the attacks also have names that suggest they are Uighurs. "The initial understanding of the police is that the Oct. 28 incident is a case of a violent terrorist attack that was carefully planned, organized, and plotted," police said in a statement.

The statement said the five detained had helped plan and execute the attack, and were caught 10 hours after it was carried out. It said they had been on the run and were tracked down with the help of police in Xinjiang and elsewhere. It didn't say where they were captured, but said police had found jihadi flags and long knives inside their temporary lodgings. Meanwhile, ethnic Uighurs say they have been subject to increased police scrutiny since the attack. "They (police) come to search us every day. We don't know why. Our IDs are checked every day, and we don't know what is happening," one man tells the AP. (More Tiananmen Square stories.)