Beijing blamed exiled Uighurs for controlling and instigating unrest after a riot in Urumqi on Sunday left at least three people dead, Reuters reported. Locals in the capital of the Xinjiang region confronted security forces as rioters burned and smashed vehicles. The riot is said to have started following protests over government handling of a confrontation between Han Chinese and Uighur factory workers in late June, in which two Uighurs were killed. "The facts demonstrate this was controlled and instigated from abroad… [the] unrest was masterminded by the World Uighur Congress," Xinhua quoted an unnamed official as saying. Exiled Uighurs rejected accusations of a plot, saying the riot reflected a release of pent-up anger over Chinese government policies in the region.
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