16 cops die in Kashgar terror strike

Sixteen policemen were killed when two terrorists drove a truck into an electricity pole and threw two home-made explosives on the cops in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, around 8 am yesterday.

Local security bureau officials said the group of 70 policemen were jogging during their regular morning drill in front of Yiquan Hotel, about 100 m from the border armed police division office, when they were attacked.

The attack in China's westernmost city, which is close to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, came just four days before the start of the Beijing Olympic Games, prompting security forces across the country to raise the level of alert.