Beijing:
China’s far western region of Xinjiang witnessed riots on Wednesday that left 27 people dead.
As per a report, the riots started on Wednesday in Turpan prefecture when police opened fire on a knife-wielding mob that attacked police stations and a local government building, the BBC quoted a Xinhua news agency report.
The unrest left 17 people dead, including nine policemen, before police shot and killed 10 rioters, the agency reported. Xinhua cited officials with the region's Communist Party committee.
The report said three rioters were seized, and that police pursued fleeing suspects, though it did not say how many. It said three people were injured by the unrest and were being treated.
Xinjiang which has been facing violent ethnic clashes, is populated majorly by the minority Muslim Uighurs, but is ruled by Han ethnic majority.
Xinjiang has seen many riots in past, one of the major ones being the ethnic riots in Urumqi in 2009 that left nearly 200 people dead.
