Three alleged terror suspects were shot dead by police officers in China's Xinjiang Province on Sunday night. The police had been in pursuit of the suspects, who resisted arrest, for their connection to a terror incident that transpired in 2015.

Reuters reported that the region's governing body explained that the incident occurred in Hotan after police officials were faced with hostility from the "violent terror group."

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"We shot the thugs dead at the scene," the government told the Tianshan Net official news site. "There were no casualties on our side."

So far, additional information on the Sunday incident has been withheld.

A similar incident had been witnessed two weeks earlier in western Xinjiang, where members of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) rammed a car into the government compound in Karakax County.

The suspects launched an attack and detonated a bomb on the location. In retaliation, police officials shot and killed three of the culprits. An official and a security guard from the government side, however, lost their lives due to the incident.

Following the tragedy, the region's governing body revamped its anti-terrorism measures and carried out an investigation to the area chief, He Jun, over failure to perform his duty as well as discipline violations.

Prior to the attack, Xinjiang enjoys a peaceful state with no major crimes being reported in the past few months. Rights groups and analysts argued that China's harsh regulations imposed on the Uighurs religion and culture are to blame for the rising violence.

Tagschina, terrorism, ETIM