Assaliants using homemade bombs launched a series of attacks and battled with police on Sunday in a western Chinese city far from the Beijing Olympics. Ten attackers and one security guard died, police said.

The pre-dawn violence in the restive Muslim region of Xinjiang came despite tightened security for the games and followed threats by an al-Qaeda-linked militant Islamic group that it would disrupt the sporting event.

Police said in a brief statement that “violent terrorists” attacked a shopping center, hotel and government buildings in the city of Kuqa in west central Xinjiang. Without providing details, it said officers killed eight attackers and two others blew themselves up, while two were arrested. Three attackers were at large, it said.

In a more detailed account, the state-run Xinhua News agency said the bombs were made from bent pipes, gas canisters and liquid gas tanks. In one of the largest attacks, assailants drove a three-wheeled vehicle with explosives into the compound of the public security bureau at about 2:30 am, Xinhua reported. An explosion followed that killed the security guard, injured two police and two civilians, and destroyed two police cars, it said.

Police opened fire on the attackers, killing one. Another blew himself up, injuring a third, and a fourth was captured in the assault, Xinhua said, citing an unidentified local government spokesman.

Six hours later, a battle broke out in a nearby market where police found five attackers hiding under a counter, Xinhua said. The men hurled bombs at the police, who fatally shot two of them, while the remaining three killed themselves with their own bombs, the news agency said.

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