The official death toll rose to 35 after knife attacks on Chinese authorities in a far-western region which has seen frequent clashes between China's Muslim minority Uyghurs and the ethnic Han majority, the Christian Science Monitor reported on Friday.
Initial reports said that 27 people were killed on Wednesday in the Xinjang region, with state-run media claiming the assailants were wielding knives, and launched an early-morning 'terrorist' attack targeting police stations, a government building and a construction site, seen as symbols of Han authority within the region.
"This is a terrorist attack, there's no question about that. As to who masterminded it, local people are still investigating," Foreign Ministryspokesman Hua Chunying said Friday at a news briefing.
Chinese state media reported another violent incident in Xinjiang's Hotan city, though details on any casualties were not immediately known, the AP reported. Phone services appeared to be temporarily down Friday afternoon, as calls to several government agencies were not going through. Wednesday's violence was one of the bloodiest incidents since 2009 when unrest hit the region's capital city of Urumqi killed nearly 200 people in a massive deadly riot.
Beijing has often accused overseas Ulghur activists for orchestrating terrorist violence, while other militant groups sometimes take responsibility for attacks.
Xinjiang is home to a large population of minority Muslim Uighurs in a region that borders Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Critics have attributed the violence, including Wednesday's deadly clashes, to Beijing's oppressive and discriminatory ethnicity policies. Many Uighurs complain that Beijing imposes tight restrictions on their religious and cultural life.
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