13 killed in attack on police office in west China
13 assailants shot dead after setting off blasts at police office in western China's Xinjiang
6/21/2014BEIJING — Police in China’s western Xinjiang region shot dead 13 assailants who drove one or more vehicles into a police office building and set off explosives in an attack Saturday that injured three police officers, the news website for the regional government said.
The Tianshan website said in a one-line report that no civilians were hurt in the attack in Kashgar prefecture in Xinjiang’s southwest.
It was the latest in a series of attacks pointing to growing unrest in the sprawling region of Xinjiang, where the native Muslim Uighur people want more autonomy from Beijing. Last month, a market bombing killed 43 people in Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi.
Chinese authorities have blamed the attacks on extremists bent on overthrowing Beijing’s rule.
Officials in the region contacted by phone either said they were unclear about the situation or refused to comment.