Riots in Xinjiang province in western China leave 27 dead

Riots in China's western province of Xinjiang have left at least 27 people dead and three injured, state media reported.

Men brandishing knives attacked police stations, a local government building and a construction site in the morning today, in a remote town in the Turkic-speaking region, AP reported quoting Xinhua news agency.

The agency cited officials as saying the police opened fire after the attack.

Those killed in the Lukqun township, Turpan prefecture included nine police officers and 10 rioters.

Xinjiang, with 45 per cent Muslim Uighurs, is ruled by the Han ethnic majority and has seen numerous outbreaks of ethnic violence in recent years, including ethnic riots in Urumqi in 2009 that left nearly 200 people dead.

The Uighurs blame the  influx of Han Chinese residents for the marginalisation of their traditional culture.

The report added, three rioters were arrested and three people had been admitted to hospital.

Violence in the region, where there are rumbling ethnic tensions between Muslim Uighur and Han Chinese communities flares up sporadically.

The disturbances happened in the town of Lukqun, around 200km (120 miles) south-east of the region's capital, Urumqi.

In 2009 around 200 people - mostly Han Chinese - were killed following deadly rioting in Urumqi between the Han Chinese and Uighur communities. An incident in April in the city of Kashgar left 21 people dead, BBC online reported.

According to the government, the violence started when ''terrorists'' were discovered by officials searching for weapons in a building.

Uighur extremists seeking autonomy are often blamed my Beijing authorities for violent incidents in the region. Uighur activists however accuse Beijing of over-exaggerating the threat to justify heavy-handed rule.