Pre-Olympic executions
Published:Thursday | April 9, 2009 | 5:53 PM
Two men were executed in Beiijing, China earlier today for an attack on police that killed 17 people in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics.
The men were sentenced to death on December 17 after being convicted of homicide and illegally producing guns, ammunition and explosives.
According to the state-run Xinhua news agency the men who were armed with knives, axes and explosives, rammed a stolen truck into a group of 70 police officers in Kashgar.
The men reportedly flung explosives at a police station and stabbed officers.
Fifteen people were injured in the attack, in addition to the 17 killed.
The news agency said the men were executed at an unknown location.
But it did not say how they were executed.
The August 4, attack last year happened four days before the Olympics.
Chinese authorities have regarded the violence as a terrorist act, saying they knew of five groups in the region that were plotting to sabotage the Olympics.