China has arrested more suspects over clashes in the ethnically divided region of Xinjiang last week that left 21 people dead, state media said Monday. China blamed the violence in the western Chinese region on "terrorists", but rights groups say the charge is used to justify the authorities' use of force against members of a Muslim minority. State-run broadcaster CCTV said Monday that "another group of terrorists has been arrested", citing senior security official Meng Hongwei and adding that police had seized weapons and flags belonging to a separatist group.

China arrested more "terrorists" in the ethnically-divided region of Xinjiang where violence last week killed 21, state-media said Monday, while a rights group dismissed terrorism claims. State-run broadcaster CCTV said "another group of terrorists has been arrested", citing senior security official Meng Hongwei, following clashes in the western region of Xinjiang that authorities have blamed on terrorism. The report did not say how many people had been arrested.

Chinese police were Thursday investigating eight suspects arrested in the ethnically divided Xinjiang region after clashes left 21 dead, with authorities reportedly accusing "terrorists" of ambushing police. Local government officials said 15 police and social workers were killed in the western region on Tuesday, adding that six members of the mostly Muslim Uighur minority shot dead in the clashes were suspected of terrorist plotting.

Beijing, Apr 24 (EFE).- The latest outbreak of violence in China's northwestern Xinjiang region has left 21 people dead and several wounded in a clash between authorities and citizens near the city of Kashgar, the main community of the Uyghur ethnic group, Muslims who frequently fight with the country's overwhelmingly dominant Han ethnic group, officials said Wednesday. The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon in the town of Banchu, near Kashgar, when several officials burst into a local house seeking "weapons" and found "suspicious individuals" there, officials said.