BEIJING — China’s ruling Communist Party said yesterday that it had removed the military chief of Xinjiang from its top decision-making body in the region, after a group from the province was alleged to have carried out a terror attack in Tiananmen Square that killed five people and injured dozens.

The official Xinjiang Daily said in a brief front-page report that Mr Peng Yong had been sacked as a member of Xinjiang’s Communist Party Standing Committee and would be replaced by Mr Liu Lei, an army veteran with more than a decade’s experience in the region.

The paper gave no reason for the move, but the party frequently removes top officials following such incidents as it seeks to apportion blame.

The Tiananmen incident was especially embarrassing for the stability-obsessed party, given the billions of dollars it spends every year on domestic security (not only in Xinjiang but across the country) and that the attack happened in the heart of Beijing.

Mr Peng was appointed Commander of the Xinjiang military region in July 2011. It is likely that he will also be relieved of his military duties.

The government has blamed Islamic extremists for the attack after a vehicle said to be laden with gasoline ploughed into bystanders outside the front entrance of the Forbidden City north of Tiananmen Square. The three people in the car and two tourists died. More than 40 were also injured.

The police have detained five suspected accomplices, while security has been stepped up in Beijing and Xinjiang following the incident.

Meanwhile, Beijing Party Chief Guo Jinlong has urged the police to improve their capacity in gathering intelligence and taking precautions against more attacks, said the city government-run Beijing Daily.

Mr Guo called on the police and security forces to “look for vulnerable links” and “learn the lessons” from the incident, said the report.

Xinjiang is home to the Muslim Uighur minority, many of whom chafe at China’s restrictions on their religion, culture and language, although the government says they are granted broad freedoms.

The region has in recent years been hit by unrest, which the government blames on the separatist East Turkestan Islamic Movement that Beijing believes was responsible for last week’s incident. However, rights groups, exiles and some experts say there is little evidence of a cohesive extremist movement operating in Xinjiang. Agencies