More violence in Xinjiang

China's Xinhua news agency said on Saturday that the incident occurred on Friday in Shache County in Xinjiang. The region has a long history of discord between authorities and its indigenous ethnic Uighur population.

Xinhua said the attackers, who it did not identify, also stabbed people in the crowded street where vendors were selling food. Fourteen other people were wounded.

The state-owned Xinjiang news website Tianshan News said police also found detonation devices, large knives and axes at the scene.

Heavy restrictions on journalists in Xinjiang have made verification of details of such incidents difficult.

Ban on identifiable clothing

The state-backed newspaper China Daily reported on Saturday that Xinjiang's regional authority had on Friday banned residents from wearing or forcing others to wear logos or clothes associated with religious extremism.

Over the past six months, Chinese state media outlets have cited at least 175 deaths in eight violent incidents in Xinjiang.

Last month, a Xinjiang court sentenced 12 accused to death for a series of attacks in July. Knife-wielding attackers allegedly killed 38 people.

The US-based Uyghur American Association disputed official descriptions of that incident. The association said police instead opened fire on people protesting against a security crackdown on Muslims during Ramadan, killing more than 20.

Uighurs make up about 9 million of the oil-rich region's 22-million population, which includes numerous ethnic Han Chinese migrants.

ipj/se (dpa, Reuters, AP)