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China: Urumqi riot killed mostly civilians

URUMQI, China, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Chinese authorities say of the 197 people killed in the July 5 Urumqi ethnic riots, 156 were innocent civilians.

Urumqi is the capital of the northwest Xinjiang-Uighur region, where ethnic tensions between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese have simmered for years, as the Uighurs resent being ruled by the Han.

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Hou Hanmin, spokesman for the region's government, said of the 156 dead civilians, 134 were Han Chinese, 11 were of Hui ethnicity, 10 were Uighurs and one was from the Man ethnic group, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The report said 12 others were shot while committing violence or criminal activities, adding the identities of the rest had yet to be determined.

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