Beijing ( CNN ) -- Sixteen people have been killed in violence in China 's volatile western region of Xinjiang , state media reported Monday . Two police officers chasing suspects came under attack late Sunday from people with machetes and explosive devices in Shufu county , near the city of Kashgar , said Tianshan , a news website run by the Xinjiang government . In the clash that ensued , two police officers died and 14 `` gang members '' were shot and killed , Tianshan reported . Deadly unrest frequently breaks out in Xinjiang , a large , resource-rich region that is home to the Uyghurs , a Turkic-speaking , predominantly Muslim ethnic group . The arrival of waves of Han Chinese people over the decades has fueled tensions with the Uyghurs . Chinese authorities have cracked down heavily on violence involving Uyghurs , deepening resentment . The details of violent clashes in Xinjiang often remain murky . Uyghur diaspora groups , like the World Uyghur Congress , have criticized the Chinese government for the lack of transparency over such events . Police have detained six suspects , Tianshan reported in an update late Monday . It described the violence as `` an organized and premeditated terrorist attack '' carried out by a gang of 20 people , led by a person it named as Hesen Ismail , a Uyghur-sounding name . The group `` advocated extremist religious thoughts , produced explosive devices and guns , and tested explosives several times in a bid to plot terrorist attacks , '' the report said . But the World Uyghur Congress disputed the government 's account . It cited unidentified `` sources on the ground '' who told it that the 14 people shot and killed were Uyghur `` demonstrators . '' Two of them were teenagers who were killed by `` indiscriminate shooting by the security forces , '' the organization alleged . Luo Fuyong , a spokesman for the Xinjiang government , contested the World Uyghur Congress 's version of events . He said that no teenagers were killed in the violence and that those involved were n't demonstrators , noting that the clash took place at 11 p.m . He said he believed that all 14 people who were killed by police were Uyghurs . CNN was n't able to independently verify the different claims about what happened . Chinese authorities have blamed Uyghurs for a vehicle attack in Beijing 's Tiananmen Square in October that killed five people -- including the three in the vehicle -- and wounded 40 others . Xinjiang 's worst violence in decades took place in July 2009 , when rioting in the capital , Urumqi , between Uyghurs and Han Chinese killed some 200 people and injured 1,700 . That unrest was followed by a crackdown by security forces . Several deadly clashes have been reported this year . Xinjiang is now home to more than 8 million Han Chinese , up from 220,000 in 1949 , and 10 million Uyghurs . The newcomers take most of the new jobs , and unemployment among Uyghurs is high . They complain of discrimination and harsh treatment by security forces , despite official promises of equal rights and ethnic harmony . Beijing accuses some Uyghur groups of trying to establish an independent state . In November : Militant group says Tiananmen attack in China was 'jihadi operation '
China : A Uyghur activist group says the people killed were ` ` demonstrators '' NEW : Chinese authorities disagree , saying those involved were a ` ` terrorist '' gang . Two police officers and four other people were killed in a clash on Sunday . The clashes took place in Xinjiang , a resource - rich Chinese region beset by unrest .