Four people who were earlier arrested for terrorist activities have been sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison in Yunnan province.

Yunnan Net, a provincial government website, said the four individuals were found guilty of "participating in terrorist organizations, illegally manufacturing explosives, harbouring suspects and financing terror activities."

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The sentence was handed down on Wednesday by the Intermediate People's Court in Honghe prefecture in Yunnan. Their names suggest the four are members of China's Uighur minority.

Beijing is currently pursuing a massive crackdown against terrorist groups after a series of attacks which is blamed on religious extremists and separatist groups seeking independence for the Xinjiang region in far-western China, home of the Uighur Muslims minority.

Last week, three men were sentenced to death and a pregnant woman to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of 31 people and wounding of 140, when the group attacked people randomly at a train station in Kunming, Yunnan's capital, in March. The attack is often referred to as China's 9/11.

The four sentenced Wednesday did not have any connection with the train station attack. The court said the defendants believed in "extreme religious ideology," and planned to participate in jihad.

Two of the defendants have attempted to leave China but were arrested while travelling from Kunming to Guangxi region. Authorities said they were planning to join foreign terrorist groups when they were arrested.

In another case, prominent Uighur academic Ilham Tohti is still being tried after having been charged with separatism in Xinjiang. Tohti's case has received international attention, with human rights groups calling for his release. 

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