According to the human rights group and the local police sources, in north China hundreds of Muslims clashed with the police which had destroyed a mosque, resulting in several people getting injured.The Information Center for Human Rights and democracy in Hong Kong said that the violence erupted between the local Muslims and some 1,000 policemen after the authorities had declared a newly renovated mosque as illegal and destroyed it. The mosque was located in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous region. The Hui are among one of the many different minority groups present in China. The right group, citing that local villagers have claimed that 50 people received injuries, while two lost their lives after the police had not only fired tear gas but also used knives and batons to beat the ethnic Hui Muslim demonstrators in the Taoshan Village, located in the Hexi Township. When reached by telephone the police at Hexi Township denied any killings.

Ma, the sir name of a policeman, confirmed that the mosque was demolished. He told the AFP that on Saturday afternoon a riot took place in the Hexi Township. Ma said that two villagers and two police officers received injuries while several others were detained by the police, but he could not tell the exact number of those taken away. A local of Taoshan said that when the violence took place he was away and one of his relatives had told him on telephone that on December 30 a police officer came shouting telling the mosque is illegal and ordered its demolition.

Jin Haitao told the AFP that clashes took place afterwards and more than 100 people have been missing since then.

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