China kills five Muslims planning 'holy war': state media

BEIJING (AFP) — Chinese police killed five Muslims who were planning a "holy war" in the latest alleged terror threat ahead of the Beijing Olympics, state media said Wednesday.

The five were shot dead on Tuesday when police raided their hide-out in Urumqi, the capital of the Muslim-populated Xinjiang region in China's far northwest, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing local authorities.

Fifteen people, all members of Xinjiang's Muslim Turkic-speaking Uighur majority population, were at the apartment and had been wielding knives when police conducted the raid, the report said.

"The suspected criminals that police killed and nabbed... were from a 'holy war' training group," Xinhua said, citing an unnamed Urumqi police spokesman.

"After police used tear gas on the premise, a roomful of people tried to break out, waving knives and injuring one policeman. The policemen were then forced to open fire, killing ...