Attack on Chinese police leaves 16 dead ahead of Beijing games
Updated on 04 August 2008
The political controversies surrounding China in the run-up to the Olympics turn violent.
Just four days before the opening ceremony of the games, today's attack is being treated with the utmost urgency by the authorities.
This is the most serious incident of its kind in China for over a decade. 16 police officers have been killed, just as Beijing makes its final preparations.
State media reported that the officers were attacked with knives and grenades in Kashgar, in Xinjiang province, 2,000 miles west of the capital Beijing.
The Chinese government had warned that separatists from the Uighur ethnic group in the area were plotting to disrupt the Olympics.
