Chinese police have shot dead four people suspected of making bombs in the far western region of Xinjiang, which has been beset by ethnic strife and violent unrest, Radio Free Asia reported on Saturday. The pre-dawn raid on a farmhouse took place on Thursday after a man was injured while making a bomb at home, which raised suspicions, the US-based broadcaster quoted local police as saying.
China has blamed violence in Xinjiang on Islamic separatists who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan. Some Chinese officials have also blamed attacks on Muslim militants trained in Pakistan. Exiled Uighur groups and human rights activists say China overstates the threat posed by militants in Xinjiang, which sits astride south and central Asia. Twenty-one people were detained by police in Thursday's raid, during which one of the suspects chopped off a policeman's hand with an axe, Radio Free Asia said.