BEIJING: Three men were condemned to death on Friday and a pregnant woman given life in prison for a mass stabbing that killed 31 people in China, a court said, an attack authorities blamed on separatists from Xinjiang.

The three men were convicted of “leading a terrorist group” which planned and carried out the attack, the Intermediate People’s Court in Kunming said in a statement.

The March 1 carnage at a train station in Kunming, in the south-western province of Yunnan, also saw more than 140 people wounded and was dubbed ‘China’s 9/11’ by state-run media.

Beijing blamed it on “separatists” from the resource-rich far-western region of Xinjiang, where at least 200 have died in attacks and clashes between locals and security forces over the last year.

Four armed guards in helmets and dark clothing, and holding automatic weapons, were positioned inside the courtroom opposite the accused, state broadcaster CCTV showed.

The suspects, whose names appear to identify them as members of the Uighur minority, wore prison clothes, and each had a separate dock, with two police officers sitting behind.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2014