China raised the death toll from riots in its Xinjiang region to 184, state media said Saturday, giving the first ethnic breakdown of the dead nearly a week after communal violence broke out in this far western city. The official Xinhua News Agency said 137 victims were of the dominant Han ethnic group, 46 were Turkic Uighurs, and one was Hui Muslim, citing the regional government's information office. Some Uighurs privately challenged those numbers Saturday after persistent rumors that security forces fired on Uighurs during their original protest and in following days. The previous death toll was 156. Xinhua gave no details on the newly reported deaths, including whether any were from Tuesday, when Han men seeking revenge for violence after the first protest marched through the streets with clubs and cleavers, trying to push past police guarding minority neighborhoods. On Saturday, paramilitary police carrying automatic weapons and riot shields blocked some roads leading to the largely Muslim Uighur district of the city, and groups of 30 marched along the road chanting slogans encouraging ethnic unity.
