According to the official version of the attack published in the state-run media, two assailants in Xinjiang’s famed Silk Road city of Kashgar killed 16 policemen and injured another 16.

The pair drove a truck at the police officers who were jogging near their barracks, the Xinhua news agency said.

After the truck hit a roadside pole, the two got off and threw home-made explosives at the barracks, then moved in to hack at police officers with knives, Xinhua reported, adding that both attackers were arrested.

Xinhua did not identify who the terrorists may be affiliated to, but China has said previously that Muslim groups seeking independence for Xinjiang and the creation of “East Turkestan” were a major security threat.

Xinjiang, a vast area that borders Central Asia, has about 8.3 million ethnic Muslim Uighurs , and many are unhappy with what they say has been decades of repressive Communist Chinese rule.

The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which reportedly operates inside Xinjiang and in neighbouring Afghanistan, is listed by China, the United States and the United Nations as a terrorist organisation.

However exiled Uighur dissidents and some human rights groups say China’s claims that the ETIM is a major threat are exaggerated.

Last month, a group calling itself the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) claimed credit for the deadly bus blasts in Shanghai and Kunming. Some experts believe TIP is part of ETIM.

After raising the alarm about Olympic terrorist attacks, China denied the TIP carried out those attacks, but said nothing more as to who may be responsible.