BEIJING - RIOTERS in China's far west Xinjiang region burned vehicles and blocked traffic in the regional capital Urumqi, and police rushed to the scene to impose order, the state news agency reported on Sunday.

The report from the Xinhua news agency did not specify the ethnicity of those involved in the unrest.

Restive Xinjiang is is home to about eight million Uighurs, a Turkic ethnic group. The region is divided between the largely Muslim Uighur people and Han Chinese, who have grown in numbers there and dominate the population of Urumqi. Many members of the mainly Muslim community say they have suffered political

and religious persecution for decades.

The rioters were 'attacking passers-by and setting fire to vehicles', the brief report said. 'They also turned over traffic guardrail and interrupted traffic on some roads in the city,' it added.

The report did not say how many people were involved in the unrest or what their grievances were. -- REUTERS, AFP