CHINA RIOTS INJURY TOLL NEARLY 2000

Injured toll from China riots raised to 1,680
AP

Foto: An ethnic Uigur (WEE'-gurz) woman on crutches protests in front of a line of paramilitary police in Urumqi (uh-ROOM'-chee), in the region of Xinjiang. Resource rich and a buffer with Central Asia, Xinjiang remains vital to China's economic and geopolitical interests.

* Ethnic riots spread in China Slideshow

URUMQI, China – State media says the Xinjiang (shihn-jahng) government has raised the injured toll in last week's riots in the restive Chinese region to 1,680.

The official Xinhua (shihn-wah) News Agency said Sunday the number of people wounded during the ethnic violence that broke out July 5 in the regional capital of Urumqi (uh-ROOM'-chee) has increased by nearly 600 from a previous total of more than 1,100, according to the government of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The protests last Sunday by minority Uighurs (WEE'-gurz) escalated into deadly attacks on members of the Han Chinese majority.

The worst ethnic unrest to hit China in decades left 184 people dead, including 137 Han and 46 Uighur victims, according to state media. Uighurs have said they think many more of their group died.

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