Xinjiang unrest: Police shoot six dead

Police in China's Xinjiang province have shot dead six people who they say were trying to detonate a bomb, local media report.

Tianshan Net, the local government news portal, said the incident happened in Shule, in Kashgar prefecture.

Xinjiang has seen a spate of attacks in recent months, amid tension between its minority Muslim Uighur population and Han Chinese residents.

Chinese authorities have responded with a large security crackdown.

Hundreds of people have been arrested and dozens executed, although information about incidents in the region is tightly controlled.

Beijing blames the violence on Uighur separatists inspired or supported by overseas extremists groups. Activists say China's policies towards Uighurs are repressive and are fuelling significant resentment.

In the latest report, Tianshan Net said residents had reported a man carrying a suspicious device. As police approached him the man tried to attack them and to detonate explosives, but was shot dead, it said.

Five other people were then shot dead as they also tried to detonate the explosives.

There was no independent confirmation of the report.

Uighurs and Xinjiang

• Uighurs are ethnically Turkic Muslims

• They make up about 45% of the region's population; 40% are Han Chinese

• China re-established control in 1949 after crushing short-lived state of East Turkestan

• Since then, there has been large-scale immigration of Han Chinese

• Uighurs fear erosion of traditional culture

Who are the Uighurs?