Chinese police 'shoot 14 dead' during Xinjiang riot

A clash between knife-wielding attackers and police in China's volatile Xinjiang region left 16 people dead, including two police officers.

The officers were pursuing a terrorist suspect when they were attacked with knives, state media reported.

A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said "within the law."

Hua Chunying said assailants "used explosive devices to attack police officers" and attacked them with knives.

The incident is the latest in the string of deadly clashes between the Muslim Uighur population and the state in China's western Xinjiang region.

Sweden-based Uighur activist Dilxat Raxit said the incident was the latest example of how Chinese security forces are "increasingly opting to kill suspects at the scene rather than capturing them and putting them on trial."

Read: Chinese police 'shoot 14 dead' in Xinjiang riot

A police crackdown in the restive western region of Xinjiang which left 14 people dead was "within the law", a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Hua Chunying said assailants "used explosive devices to attack police officers" and attacked them with knives.

He added: "This is a case which lays bare the anti-government and anti-human nature of the terrorists and deserves to be condemned by all those who love peace and stability."

• Read: Chinese police 'shoot 14 dead' in Xinjiang riot

Police in China's restive far western region of Xinjiang have shot dead 14 people during a riot in which two policemen were also killed, the regional government has said.

According to government reports on its official news portal Tianshan, police were attacked by a mob throwing explosive devices and wielding knives when they went to arrest "criminal suspects" in a village near the old Silk Road city of Kashgar.

• Read: China: Crackdown which left 14 dead 'within the law'