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BEIJING (AFP) - Police have launched a door-to-door search for a man who shot dead a teenage soldier on duty outside army barracks in southwest China, state media reported Tuesday.
Han Junliang, 18, was shot twice in the chest Thursday in the city of Chongqing, and police have announced a 300,000-yuan (44,000-dollar) reward for anyone able to help arrest the suspect, the China Daily said.
The newspaper, quoting an unnamed police source, said that preliminary investigations suggested the killer might be Tibetan.
"A number of Tibetan separatists had snuck into town from (nearby) Chengdu and were attempting to stage a bombing in downtown Chongqing," the source said.
The government of Chongqing, which has a population of 14 million, refused to comment on the allegations.
"We don't have any further information and cannot confirm the identity of the suspect," a spokesman, who would only give his surname as Ma, told AFP.
The public security bureau in the city could not immediately be reached for comment.
The source told the paper that the attacker's face was not clearly visible on images captured by surveillance cameras. A description of the suspect said he was "dark skinned."
According to the China Daily, the assailant first fired in the air and then walked up to the soldier, shot him twice and escaped with his assault rifle.
Such attacks are rare in China, where guns are outlawed, and Mayor Wang Hongju urged calm in a statement posted on the city's government website Tuesday.
China launched a massive security clampdown in Tibetan areas to quell possible unrest related to the March 10 anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet 50 years ago.
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