A local court in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region handed down the death penalty Monday to the head of a terrorist group responsible for a killing spree that left 15 people dead last month.

The Intermediate People's Court of Kashi convicted Abudukeremu Mamuti of organizing and heading a terrorist group, and intentional killing.

Mamuti spread ideologies of religious extremism and terrorism, conspired to form a terrorist group with eight other people and plotted attacks between July 2011 and February 2012, the court said.

The group carried out an attack at a busy avenue in Yecheng county affiliated to Kashi at around 6 pm on February 28, killing 15 people and injuring 14 with knives and axes.

Police seized Mamuti at the scene and gunned down other attackers. Four policemen were injured while a local security officer was killed during the incident.

Li Wei, an anti-terrorism expert with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times that "the group is linked with the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, a terrorist group listed by the UN, which provides it with terrorist training."

China's top legislature adopted a decision on strengthening anti-terrorism efforts last October, providing a legal basis for the country's fight against terrorism, which will severely strike terrorists, according to Li.

"Local authorities need to reinforce their capabilities in dealing with emergencies, and improve the equipment of anti-terrorism forces at the grass-roots level," Li said.