July 7, 2009
Scores killed in ethnic riots in China
by Ariana Eunjung Cha
The Washington Post
URUMQI, China - Clashes between Muslim Uighur protesters and security forces have killed at least 156 people in China's far west, state media said Monday, in what appears to be one of this country's bloodiest outbreaks of violence in recent history.
The capital of China's Xinjiang region, Urumqi, was under heavy guard after a crowd of rioters, estimated to number more than 1,000 and armed with knives and sticks, faced off against police in the city's main bazaar on Sunday, according to witnesses. As word of the fighting spread, smaller incidents of retaliatory violence erupted across Urumqi at universities, bus stops and restaurants.
Early Tuesday, the official New China News Agency reported that Chinese police had dispersed "more than 200 rioters" trying to gather at the main mosque in Kashgar, another city in Xinjiang.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that a fresh protest broke out in Urumqi, with about 200 Uighurs blocking a main road in a standoff with security forces. Some of the protesters were screaming that their husbands and children had been arrested, AP said.
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