Police officer dead in an attack in China's western region

Beijing: Chinese state media say police in the restive western region of Xinjiang shot dead an armed assailant for attacking a police officer, who later died. [caption id=“attachment_1440357” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Armed paramilitary policemen guard a crossing in front of Kunming Railway Station in Kunming. AP[/caption] The official China News Service said Wednesday the suspect used unspecified weapons to injure a police officer in the city of Urumqi on Monday night. Officers who arrived at the site shot the attacker dead. The injured officer later died. He was 29. The report did not identify the ethnicity of the assailant, but it was the latest in a series of attacks pointing to growing unrest in the sprawling region. Xinjiang is home to a simmering rebellion against Chinese rule among parts of the native Turkic Uighur population who chafe against Beijing’s rule. In a recent attack on Kunming station, assailants killed 29 and 140 others wounded. The incident was blamed on ethnic Muslim Uighur separatists, largely inhabitants of Xinjiang. AP