At least 16 people have been killed in violence in China’s western region of Xinjiang, a state news portal says.
The incident took place late on Sunday in a village near the city of Kashgar.
The government-run regional news portal said police trying to make arrests were attacked by people armed with explosive devices and knives. Police shot dead 14 people, with two policemen also killed.
Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur minority group, sees sporadic clashes.
Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur minority group, sees sporadic clashes
The government traditionally blames extremists for the violence, while Uighur activists point to ethnic tensions and tight Chinese control as triggers for violence.
Verifying reports from the region is difficult because the information flow out of Xinjiang is tightly controlled.
The report, on the official Tianshan news portal, said two people were also arrested.
Last month, state media reported nine civilians and two police were killed in an attack on a police station near Kashgar.
In late October, five people were killed when a car ploughed into a crowd and then burst into flames in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
Beijing called the incident a terrorist attack inspired by Xinjiang-linked extremists. Three people who died inside the car were identified by police as Xinjiang Uighurs.
Two police officers and nine axe-wielding assailants have been shot dead during an attack on a police station in China’s volatile western Xinjiang province, state media say.
Xinhua news agency reports that the Saturday’s clashes took place in Bachu county’s Serikbuya, near the city of Kashgar.
Another two policemen were injured. Xinhua provided no further details.
Two police officers and nine axe-wielding assailants have been shot dead during an attack on a police station in China’s volatile western Xinjiang province
Xinjiang – where Muslim Uighurs make up a large part of the population – has seen several clashes this year.
Last month, five people died when a car ploughed into a crowd in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square – an attack the authorities blamed on the separatist East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).
China often blames the ETIM for incidents in Xinjiang.
Uighur groups claim China uses ETIM as an excuse to justify repressive security in Xinjiang.
There are nine million Uighurs living in the province, but they are now a minority in the region, which is now dominated politically and economically by Han Chinese.
There were violent clashes in Xinjiang in April, June and August this year.
Chinese police have detained five suspects in connection with Monday’s deadly car crash at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, state media report.
Police have described the incident as a “violent terror attack”, the Xinhua news agency says, for first time.
All three people in the car had names from the Muslim Uighur minority in the restive western region of Xinjiang.
Two bystanders died and 38 people were injured after the vehicle crashed into a crowd and burst into flames.
The police said that what happened at Tiananmen Square was a “violent terrorist attack” which was “carefully planned and organised”, Xinhua says.
The jeep that crashed into a bridge in front of the Forbidden City was driven by a man who was with his wife and mother, police said in a statement.
All three had names from the Muslim Uighur minority in the Xinjiang region.
Chinese police have detained five suspects in connection with Monday’s deadly car crash at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square
The three ignited petrol inside the car, they added.
Police said the vehicle they found on Monday had a container for petrol, two knives and what they describe as a flag with extremist religious slogans on it. They added that the car’s number plates were registered in Xinjiang province.
They said they also found more knives and another flag at a location in Beijing.
On Wednesday, a number of news agency reports said a police notice was being circulated among hotels in Beijing, asking information about eight suspects.
Seven have names typical of the Uighur ethnic group and the other, although seemingly from China’s majority Han ethnicity, has an address in Xinjiang, reports say.
A tourist from the Philippines and a tourist from Guangdong province were among those killed in the incident. Another 38 people were injured, including three tourists from the Philippines and one from Japan.
Police shut down the scene of the incident – at the north end of the square at an entrance to the Forbidden City – shortly after it occurred, temporarily closing a subway station and a road.
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