12 mobsters shot dead by police in Urumqi riots: Official

September 28th, 2009 URUMQI - The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region legislature has passed a regulation prohibiting the instigation of ethnic separatist activities via the Internet, The China Daily reports. Online activities compromising national security, damaging national and social interests, undermining ethnic unity, instigating ethnic secession and harming social stability will be severely punished, according to the regulation.

September 25th, 2009 China charges 21 with murder in July riotsBEIJING — Chinese prosecutors brought murder and arson charges Friday against 21 people arrested in connection with riots in July that left nearly 200 dead in Urumqi. The riots in the capital of the western region of Xinjiang saw Muslim Uighurs attack members of the country's dominant Han ethnic group, followed two days later by Han attacks on Uighurs.

September 6th, 2009 URUMQI - In the aftermath of Xinjiang riots that erupted on July 5, the party chief of Urumqi and police chief of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have been sacked. According to a decision by the CPC Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Committee, Li Zhi, secretary of the Urumqi Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was replaced by Zhu Hailun.

August 4th, 2009 URUMQI - Chinese authorities Tuesday formally arrested 83 people in connection with the July 5 riots that left 197 people dead and more than 1,600 injured in the country's northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, officials said. Prosecutor Utiku'er Abudrehman made the announcement at a press conference in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

August 3rd, 2009 URUMQI - Police in China's northwestern Xinjiang province have detained 319 more people in connection with the July 5 riots in this provincial capital. The arrests were made after the police said to have detained 1,572 people in connection with the clashes in which 197 people were killed and hundreds were injured.

July 19th, 2009 China says recent Urumqi unrest was premeditatedBEIJING — The Chinese government acknowledged for the first time that police killed 12 people during July 5 unrest in western China but put the blame squarely on rioters, saying they stockpiled weapons and planned synchronized attacks on targets across the city of Urumqi. But an expert on the situation in western China's Xinjiang province said such accusations should be treated with skepticism because they are Beijing's attempt to distract people from the real issues upsetting ethnic minority Muslim Uighurs in the region.

July 19th, 2009 China says police killed 12 in Urumqi riotingBEIJING — Chinese police killed 12 people during July 5 rioting in the western city of Urumqi, officials said — a rare acknowledgment by the government that security forces opened fire in the worst ethnic clashes to hit the region in decades. The unrest began when a peaceful protest by Muslim ethnic minority Uighurs turned violent after it was stopped by police.

July 13th, 2009 URUMQI - Police in China's restive Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have shot dead two Uighur men in an attempt to stop them killing another. According to authorities, a police team patrolling in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province, saw a group of three people trying to kill a passerby.

July 11th, 2009 URUMQI - The death toll in the riots in China's Urumqi city has risen to 184, authorities said Saturday. The dead comprise 137 people from the Han community, including 26 women.

July 10th, 2009 DUBAI - Friday prayers were cancelled in China's Urumqi city where riots have left at least 156 people dead and over 1,000 injured, a media report said. "Chinese authorities have cancelled Friday Muslim prayers in Urumqi amid security concerns as troops try to keep control following days of deadly unrest in the city," Al Jazeera reported Friday.

July 10th, 2009 URUMQI - Some mosques in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi were closed Friday following Sunday's deadly riot that left at least 156 people dead, a Chinese official said. All five major mosques near the Southern Jiefang Road, centre of Sunday's violence, were closed Friday morning.

July 8th, 2009 URUMQI - Riot-hit Chinese city Urumqi appeared calm under heavy paramilitary police presence Wednesday after an overnight traffic curfew, though sporadic violence was still reported. Traffic restrictions continued to be imposed in some major streets Wednesday, with members of the Armed Police patrolling.

July 7th, 2009 URUMQI - The death toll in the ethnic clashes between minority Uighurs and members of Han community in China's Xinjiang province has risen to 156 even as over 1,400 people were arrested for the violence, authorities said early Tuesday. The dead include 129 men and 27 women, Li Yi, head of the publicity department of Xinjiang regional committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said Tuesday morning.

July 7th, 2009 BEIJING - Several hundred Uighurs staged a protest Tuesday as Chinese officials took a group of foreign journalists on a tour of Urumqi, the riot-hit capital of the far western region of Xinjiang. The protesters sat down after they were blocked by riot police, reporters in Urumqi said.

July 7th, 2009 URUMQI - Internet connectivity was cut in parts of Xinjiang's capital Urumqi following Sunday's riot to prevent violence from spreading, an official said Tuesday. "We cut Internet connection in some areas of Urumqi in order to prevent violence from spreading to other places," said Li Zhi, the Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of Urumqi.