China said Thursday a police operation to free hostages in the restive Xinjiang region had left seven “terrorists” dead, but an exile group described the incident as a protest by local Uighurs. The incident is the latest reported violent confrontation in the region — home to roughly nine million mostly Muslim Uighurs who have long bristled under Chinese rule — since three deadly attacks in July left dozens dead.
The Xinjiang government said on its official Twitter-like weibo account that a “violent terrorist group” kidnapped two people in the northwestern region’s remote Pishan county late Wednesday night, prompting a stand-off with police.
During the stand-off, the kidnappers killed one police officer and wounded another. Police opened fire and killed seven of the suspects, and wounded and arrested four others, it added. The two hostages were subsequently rescued, it said, without providing further details. It did not say whether the kidnappers were Uighurs.
