BBC: Police Shoot Six Dead in China’s Western Xinjiang Province

This story originally appeared at BBC:

Police in China’s Xinjiang province have shot dead six people who they say were trying to detonate a bomb, local media report.

Tianshan Net, the local government news portal, said the incident happened in Shule, in Kashgar prefecture.

Xinjiang has seen a spate of attacks in recent months, amid tension between its minority Muslim Uighur population and Han Chinese residents.

Chinese authorities have responded with a large security crackdown.

Hundreds of people have been arrested and dozens executed, although information about incidents in the region is tightly controlled.

Beijing blames the violence on Uighur separatists inspired or supported by overseas extremists groups. Activists say China’s policies towards Uighurs are repressive and are fuelling significant resentment.

In the latest report, Tianshan Net said residents had reported a man carrying a suspicious device. As police approached him the man tried to attack them and to detonate explosives, but was shot dead, it said.

 

Read the full story at BBC.