More details have emerged on an earlier attack in China's troubled western region of Xinjiang.

The state news agency Xinhua said 37 civilians and 59 "terrorists" died in the attack on a police station and government offices last Monday in Shache county.

Two Uighurs were among the dead civilians. The rest were Han Chinese, according to the report.

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When Xinhua first reported on the violence on Tuesday, it said dozens were killed or injured in the "terror attack" by a knife-wielding gang.

The World Uyghur Congress, which represents Uighur exiles, put the number of casualties at nearly 100 dead or wounded.

In its latest report, Xinhua said police found knives and "banners that hailed holy war" at the scene.

It added that according to government investigations the attack was "organized and premeditated", and "in connection with the terrorist group East Turkestan Islamic Movement".

Xinjiang has been rocked by violence in recent months, and Beijing has pinned the responsibility on Uighurs fighting for an independent homeland.

Earlier this year, 39 people died in an attack on a market in the capital Urumqi.

Previous incidents showed that the violence is no longer limited to Xinjiang.

In March, men armed with knives killed 29 people at a train station in Kunming in southwest China, and in October a jeep rammed through a crowd on Beijing's Tiananmen Square, killing two people and injuring 40.

In the latest series of violence, Xinhua reported that nine suspected terrorists died in a clash with police on Friday.

Two days earlier, knife-wielding assailants believed to be Islamist militants killed Jume Tahir, the state-backed head of China's largest mosque, Id Kah.

The Xinjiang government website Tianshan said "three thugs influenced by religious extremist ideology" murdered Tahir.

According to the International Shia News Association website, Tahir's murder could be part of a campaign by extremists to win the support of moderate Muslim Uighurs.

TagsXinjiang violence, Uighurs, Jume Tahir, Han Chinese, xinjiang separatists, xinjiang islamists, Xinjiang ethnic violence, China arrests