uyghur knives?

[josh stout]

After the horrendous Chinese train station attack by what people assumed to be Uighurs, I wondered about their weapons. The attackers were described as dressed in black from head to toe with only the eyes showing, and included at least two women. They carried what was described a "knives as long as a man's arm and a couple of inches wide." What were these "knives"? Google image search shows some shiny items that look like fancy hunting knives, but nothing on the scale described. Perhaps they were the same thing but bigger? Certainly the accounts seem to indicate a single edged chopping weapon.
Please forgive me for what sounds like morbid curiosity, but contemporary accounts of ethnic groups with long standing weapons traditions tend to focus on gory details but not details of the weapons. In this country, when a mass shooting occurs, we know exactly which version of the AR15 was used, but from Africa to Assam, blade wielding mobs are usually described as carrying out "machete" attacks. If we knew what weapons were used, we would know much more about what group was involved, their connection to traditional culture, and their access to modern construction techniques.
Thanks,
Josh