China arrests man for allegedly spreading rumours about deadly Xinjiang attack

Police in Xinjiang have detained a man for allegedly spreading rumours on overseas websites that thousands of people were killed in violence in Shache county late last month.

The rumours had been picked up and circulated by "hostile foreign forces", the official website of the regional government said, naming the World Uygur Congress (WUC), an overseas activist group.

Xinjiang, home to the Turkic-speaking Muslim Uygur people, has suffered violence for years, which the government blames on Islamist militants or separatists, who, it says, want an independent state called East Turkestan.

According to state media, 59 "terrorists" were gunned down by security forces in Shache and 37 civilians were killed in attacks staged by masked militants on July 28.

The assailants attacked a police station and government offices in Elixku town before targeting civilians and vehicles in the nearby town of Huangdi, it says.

The WUC and human rights groups have offered a competing version of the events, saying the confrontation was the result of a crackdown on Uygurs observing the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Access to Xinjiang is tightly controlled, making an independent assessment of the situation almost impossible.