On June 22, 2015, a group of ethnic Uyghurs attacked a police traffic checkpoint in he Tahtakoruk district of southwestern Xinjiang’s Kashgar (in Chinese, Kashi) city, leaving at least 28 people dead, several of whom were bystanders. Turghun Memet, an officer with the nearby Heyhag district police station told RFA’s Uyghur Service, that the attack began when a car sped through a traffic checkpoint without stopping. He said “When one of the policemen at the checkpoint ran out of the booth, the car backed up, hitting him and breaking his leg, two other suspects then rushed out of the car, using knives to attack and kill two police officers who had come to rescue their comrade." The remaining traffic police, who do not carry guns, called for backup from the Heyhag district police station and the People’s Armed Police (PAP). “By the time armed police reached the scene, three more suspects had arrived by sidecar motorcycle and attacked the checkpoint and police cars with explosives, killing one regular police officer, another traffic policeman and one auxiliary officer.” Memet also said “They also injured four other officers and damaged a police vehicle.” He said the car used by the attackers had displayed a license plate from Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture’s Atush (in Chinese, Atushi) city, but he was told they were residents of Kashgar prefecture’s Yengisheher (Shule) and Peyziwat (Jiashi) counties.