BEIJING: At least five police officers have been stabbed to death by separatists in a knife attack at a coal mine in China’s violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang, US-based Radio Free Asia reported on Wednesday.

The incident happened last Friday at the Sogan colliery in Aksu, the report said, citing police from the area. Dozens were also injured, it said. The attack was “a long-planned, well-prepared, large-scale attack by separatists against police officers and mine owners at a coal field in our county”, according to a government notice cited by Radio Free Asia.

Repeated calls to the Xinjiang government and public security departments were not answered. Such incidents are frequently reported in overseas media but not confirmed by the Chinese government until days later.