Chinese Police Shoot Two Uighurs Dead

Two ethnic Uighurs have been shot dead by police in Urumqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang province, officials have said.

A government statement announced that a third "lawbreaker" had been injured, the BBC reported Monday.

A reporter with Hong Kong's RTHK radio said two police officers were also shot in a confrontation in a Uighur district of the city.

The violence comes after Chinese officials said calm had been restored to the city after at least 180 people were killed in rioting last week.

Other reports said police had fired at a group of Uighur men armed with knives and poles who had attacked the police.

Thousands of extra security personnel have been patrolling the city of about 2,3 million people since violence erupted on 5 July.

Ethnic Han Chinese make up the majority of Urumqi's population, but Uighurs form a significant minority and have long-standing complaints of discrimination.

Rioting began during a protest by Uighurs over a brawl in southern China in late June in which two Uighurs were killed.

Chinese officials have said 184 people are known to have been killed in the violence in Urumqi, and 1 680 injured.
The officials said 137 were Han Chinese, 46 were from the indigenous Uighur community and one was an ethnic Hui, the officials said.

Uighur groups in exile have said hundreds of Uighurs were killed.

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