More than four people, including a policeman, were killed Monday in an attack on a police station in far western China, state media reported. No motive was cited, but the Xinjiang region has been the scene of past ethnic conflict. The deaths happened after "several thugs" invaded a police station in Hotan, took hostages and started a fire, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Xinhua did not give a reason for the attack. But Xinjiang has been beset by ethnic conflict and a sometimes-violent separatist movement by Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gurs), a largely Muslim ethnic group that sees Xinjiang as its homeland. Many Uighurs resent the Han Chinese majority as interlopers.
An overseas Uighur activist group said Monday's violence stemmed from a land protest earlier in the day that ended in clashes between demonstators and police.
Xinhua said other police rushed to the scene of the attack and shot dead "a number of thugs." One policeman, two hostages and a civilian were also killed.
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