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Dozens Killed In Western China Rioting


Riots in China's ethnically divided Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have left a reported 27 people dead.

Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that "knife-wielding mobs" early on June 26 attacked a police station, a government building, and a construction site in the town of Lukqun, some 200 kilometers south of Urumqi.

Xinhua said the crowd "stabbed at people and set fire to police cars."

At least 17 people were killed before police opened fire on the mob, killing 10 more people.

The report did not identify who was in the "mob," but XUAR is the traditional home of the Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim people.

Chinese authorities have moved several million Han Chinese into the area in recent years to help develop the region's oil fields, sparking ethnic conflicts that have left hundreds dead.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa

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