Chinese police have shot dead two Uyghurs who authorities say were allegedly trying to illegally cross into Vietnam.
State media said the shooting occurred at the border town of Pingxiang in Guanxi Province late on January 18.
Officials were searching for a third person who escaped.
Meanwhile, the Public Security Ministry said a task force on human smuggling across China's southwestern borders had uncovered 262 cases since May.
It claimed the smuggling is "mainly organized abroad and controlled behind the scenes" by the separatist East Turkestan Islamic Movement in efforts to spread religious extremism.
Uyghurs live in the western region of Xinjiang, which some of them call East Turkestan.
Authorities have blamed recent terror attacks on Uyghur separatists and have launched a widespread crackdown.
Activists say the Turkic Muslim minority is experiencing repression by Beijing, resulting in resentment.
