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150 killed in unrests in Urumchi, Chinese city populated by ethnic Uighurs

06 July 2009 09:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. 150 people were dead and 816 injured after violence in China’s Xinjiang region populated by Uighurs. There were clashes between the Uighur Turks and Chinese (Han nationalities) in Urumchi July 5 evening, APA reports quoting Anatolian news agency. China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that protesters attacked passersby, burned public buses and blocked traffic on Sunday. The protests began after violence reportedly happened at a toy factory in Guangdong province, where many migrants, including Uighurs, have moved in search of work. A massive brawl reportedly broke out between workers of Uighur and Han nationalities and two Uighurs reportedly died. Following that the Uighurs took the streets and demanded to punish the guilty persons and unrests began after the interference of police. Local authorities said the Uygurs were instigated by the World Uighur Congress, which leader Rabiyya Kader was arrested in 1999 in China and after releasing in 2005 moved to the United States.
According to the official statistics, there is more than 21 million population in Xinjiang province and most of them are Uighurs.