The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Beijing

The first outbreak of violence in China's western region of Xinjiang since a pair of high-profile attacks during the Olympics has left two Chinese policemen dead and seven more wounded, authorities and an activist said Thursday.

The conflict in the predominantly Muslim region ignited Wednesday in a village in Jiashi County, but it was not immediately clear what caused it or if any Uighurs were injured.

Activist Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Germany-based World Uighur Congress, said witnesses heard "fierce gunfire" but did not give any details. A woman at the emergency center of the No. 1 People's Hospital in Kashgar, about 60 miles west of Jiashi, said six police officers were being treated at the facility, including one for stab wounds.

"Two police officers died," said Mu'erbiya, an official from Jiashi County's Communist Party propaganda office, who like some Uighurs uses only one name. "Our investigation is under way." A public security official said eight Uighurs - seven men and one woman - were involved. One man had been captured but the others were still at large, said the official who refused to give his name.

The region saw three deadly attacks in the run-up and during the Beijing Olympics. Videos also appeared online threatening the games.

Four days before the Aug. 8 start of the competition, two attackers in Kashgar rammed a truck into a group of police who they then attacked with homemade bombs and knives, killing 16.

On Aug. 10, bombers hit 17 sites - including a police station, government building, bank and shops - in the ancient Silk Road city of Kuqa.