11/2/2004 9:00:00 AM GMT
Many Muslims have been killed and others wounded in the ethnic clashes that broke out between the Muslim Hui minority and the Han majority in central China's Henan province, prompting local authorities to declare martial law.
The New York Times reported on Monday that at least 148 people were killed in the clashes, citing local journalists witnesses.
The imam of the Nanren’s mosque said that the village was one of the flashpoints of the confrontation, adding that at least six people died in there and the unrest had yet to be quelled.
"Two Huis died here, and four or five members of the Han nationality," the imam, surnamed Hu, told reporters.
He said the clashes broke out last week when Hui truck drivers from Nanren tried to cross a village mostly inhabited by Han Chinese and one of them got beaten up over a traffic dispute.
Shortly after the incident, thousands of Han Chinese gathered around Nanren village, and a confrontation started. Several houses were burnt down and a brick factory was destroyed, Hu said.
The fatalities that Hu was informed about took place during this clash, which stopped only when troops from the regular and paramilitary People's Armed Police arrived at the scene, he said.
He added that he heard several reports of a similar clash in another village on Sunday, however, he said that reports had no details.
Quoting local sources, the New York Times reported that the clashes erupted on Friday, October 29 , and continued into the weekend after a Hui taxi driver's car hit and killed a6 -year-old Han girl, stirring outrage among different ethnic groups.
Worst ever clashes
An employee at the Zhongmou county taxi company told reporters that the recent clashes between the Hui and Han are the worst ever.
"Clashes have happened frequently before but this is the worst," he said.
"The two groups used farm tools to fight each other. Martial law has been declared in the village, people are prevented from getting in or out."
Also a female officer in the area's main police station reported that she was among the only ones left as her colleagues were out trying to control the disturbances.
"Normally, there are several hundred police here, but they have all gone to the scene," she said.
"The People's Armed Police has also gone to the scene."
On the other hand Chinese state media Monday had no word on the clashes or the casualties, and local journalists in the region said a news blackout was in force.
"We want to report about it, but the central government doesn't want us to," a journalist with Henan Daily told reporters.
"They are afraid to trigger conflict among the ethnic groups."
Han Chinese form more than90 % of the population. The country has55 officially recognized ethnic groups.
China suffers frequent tensions between ethnic groups, however, the extent of any violent clashes is unclear as the communist government hides any information about social conflict.