( CNN ) -- Nine terror suspects were killed and another was captured in the volatile northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang on Friday , the state-run Xinhua news agency reported , citing police . No details were immediately available about the deaths in Xinjiang 's Hotan prefecture , who the suspects were or what they were accused of doing . Chinese authorities have stepped up security measures in Xinjiang following several recent attacks in the region , which has been the scene of ethnic strife between the indigenous Uyghurs , a mainly Turkic-speaking Muslim population , and Han Chinese . On Monday , a gang wielding knives and axes killed and injured dozens of people in southern Xinjiang , Xinhua reported . Police shot and killed dozens of suspects in that incident , according to Xinhua . A suicide bombing in May killed 39 people at a street market in the region 's capital , Urumqi . Another apparent suicide bombing left three dead in April at an Urumqi train station . The Chinese government has blamed recent violent incidents in Xinjiang on Uyghur separatists seeking to establish an independent state . Waves of Han Chinese have flocked to the resource-rich region , fueling tensions with the Uyghurs , who regard themselves as culturally and ethnically closer the people of nations bordering western China , such as Kazakhstan , Mongolia , Pakistan and Afghanistan . Xinjiang is now home to more than 8 million Han Chinese , up from 220,000 in 1949 , and 10 million Uyghurs . Unemployment among Uyghurs is high , and they complain of discrimination and harsh treatment by security forces . CNN 's Steven Jiang and Madison Park contributed to this report .
Xinjiang region has history of friction between Han Chinese and Uyghurs , a Muslim people . Comment: Uyghurs complain of discrimination and harsh treatment by security forces in Xinjiang .