At least 9 suspected terrorists have been killed by the police in Xinjiang province following a year long campaign of authorities to stamp out terrorism and extremism in various counties in China.

The campaign was launched by the Xinjiang government in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Urmqi which left 39 people dead and 94 others injured.

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The terrorist group was identified by the police last week and many local  civilians helped the police in tracking them down.

Last Friday, the local people alerted the police when they spotted the terrorist group hiding in a cornfield in the county. Reports said the police chased the terrorists with the help of 30,000 local volunteers.The police and the terrorists exchanged gunfire, killing nine suspects and capturing a member of the group.

No one in the police and civilian volunteers were hurt in the gunfire exchange. The police cornered the terrorists in an abandoned house where the suspects resisted arrests by throwing explosives to the crowd.

Battling the terrorists have been an uphill challenge for China , with county chiefs even soliciting help from locals in tracking them down.

Extremists have killed Jume Tahir, an imam of China's largest mosque in broad daylight last Wednesday. The police have yet to capture the perpetrators of the crime.

Last Monday, dozens of Han and Uygur civilians have been killed in what police said was an "organized and premeditated" attacks in the Shache County. Armed with axes and knives, the extremist group attacked government offices and police outposts in Elixku Township