Chinese police say 28 killed in hunt for Xinjiang group

BEIJING

Police say they have killed 28 members of a group responsible for an attack on a mine in China's Muslim west that left 11 people dead earlier this year.

Xinjiang Daily reported a police statement as saying Friday that one other man had surrendered during a 56-day investigation, during which police enlisted local residents to sweep 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of mountains for the armed group in Aksu in Xinjiang's west.

On Sept. 18, the group raided a coalmine in a remote part of the mountains, killing 11 civilians and five security personnel, and injuring 18 others.

Xinjiang is home to many ethnic minority groups, including the Uighur, who refer to the region as East Turkestan and consider it to be part of Central Asia, not China.

For years, they have accused China of carrying out repressive policies that restrain their religious, commercial and cultural activities.