BEIJING: Eight people were killed in a knife attack on a crowd in China’s restive Xinjiang region, including three assailants who were gunned down by police, local officials said on Wednesday.

Ten other people were injured in the attack on Tuesday evening in Pishan county, according to an announcement issued by the government of the nearby city of Hotan.

Police rushed to the scene within a minute of the attack, which remains under investigation, the announcement said, calling the attackers “rioters”.

The far-western region is the homeland of the Uighurs — a traditionally Muslim group, many of whom complain of cultural and religious repression and discrimination — and is often hit by deadly unrest.

Beijing regularly accuses exiled Uighur separatist groups such as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement of orchestrating attacks in the vast, resource-rich region.

Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the exiled World Uyghur Congress, said that police arrested six people after the attack, including two young Uighurs who shared information about the incident over mobile phones.

Last month police killed three “rioters” following a manhunt for suspected members of a “violent terror group.

Published in Dawn February 16th, 2017