I last reported on the possibility that the two men in Kashgar crossed the Tajik border before carrying out their attack on border guards in the city.  Porfiriy, at The New Dominion, has translated state news sources indicating that the attackers were local PRC citizens:

 Xinhua Network, Urumqi, 5 August – Reporters have learned from the XUAR Public Security Department, that the two suspects apprehended after the violent surprise attack in Kashgar, Xinjiang are males, from Kashgar, are 28 and 33 years old, with one being a taxi driver and the other a vegetable seller.

This may be the whole truth, yet the attack still seems to be prompting questions about the security of China’s western border.  The fact that, in the last year, China has arrested 18 foreign terrorists in the Northwest province is getting considerable coverage.  Reports are unclear about when these arrests were made and whether those detained were foreign nationals or just trained outside of China, even questioning whether the most recent attack was “jihad.”  At some point, this group of detainees may become better defined and create more of a stir.