Riots kill 27 in minority region of far west China

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese state media say riots in a restive far western region of China have killed 27 and left at least three injured.

The official Xinhua News Agency says knife-wielding mobs attacked police stations, a local government building and a construction site Wednesday morning in a remote town in the Turkic-speaking Xinjiang (shihn-jahng) region.

Xinhua says the unrest in Lukqun township left 17 people dead, including nine policemen, before police shot and killed 10 rioters.

Xinjiang is home to a large population of minority Uighurs (WEE'-gurs), but is ruled by China's Han ethnic majority. It has been the scene of numerous violent incidents in recent years, including ethnic riots in Urumqi in 2009 that left nearly 200 people dead.