Riots have killed 27 people in China

China, June 26 – Riots have killed 27 people in China's restive far western region of Xinjiang, Chinese state media report. The incident happened in Turban prefecture early on Wednesday.

 

Police opened fire after a mob armed with knives attacked police stations and a local government building, Xinhua news agency quoted officials as saying.

 

There are sporadic outbreaks of violence in Xinjiang, where there are rumbling ethnic tensions between Muslim Uighur and Han Chinese communities.

 

Confirming reports from the region is difficult because information is tightly controlled.

 

The incident happened in Turban's remote township of Lukqun, around 200km (120 miles) south-east of the region's capital, Urumqi.

 

The Xinhua news agency report, citing local officials, said rioters stabbed people and set police cars alight. 17, including 9 security personnel and 8 civilians, were killed before police shot dead 10 of the rioters, it said. At least 3 others were injured and were being treated in hospital, it added.

 

The government said the violence began when "terrorists" were discovered in a building by officials searching for weapons.

 

But local people has  told that the violence involved a local family who had a long-standing dispute with officials who had been pressuring the men to shave off their beards and the women to take off their veils.

 

BBC