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 on Saturday that injured three 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. The official Xinhua News Agency said one vehicle was used, though it did not provide specific details.
Officials in the region contacted by phone either said they were unclear about the situation or refused to comment.
It was the latest in a >series of attacks in the sprawling region of Xinjiang. 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. The government says the assailants have ties to Islamic terror groups abroad, but provides little direct evidence.
The government has sought to stem the attacks by handing down heavy punishments to people authorities say organised, led and participated in terror groups, committed arson, murder, burglary or illegally manufactured explosives. Earlier this month, China executed 13 people in Xinjiang for such crimes.
