BEIJING/URMAQI: The communist party chief of the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi was sacked today, following mass protests that left five people dead after a spate of syringe attacks.

Top city official Li Zhi was replaced by Zhu Hailun, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting the communist party’s Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Committee, adding that the region’s police chief was also sacked. It gave no reason for either losing their jobs.

Protests over the hundreds of syringe attacks began on Wednesday in the capital of Xinjiang region, where ethnic unrest in July between mainly Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese left nearly 200 people dead. The demonstrations reached a peak on Thursday when tens of thousands of people, mainly Han, poured into the streets following reports that hundreds had been stabbed with needles since mid-August.

Five people were killed as the protests mounted on Thursday, officials said.

Meanwhile, security remained tight as signs of normality slowly returned to Urumqi today.

Traffic restrictions were eased and cars, taxis and regular buses were on the roads, an AFP reporter witnessed. More shops were open than on Friday and more residents returned to the streets.

At the Hantenggeli mosque in the city centre, which was closed on Friday, an official in the management office who asked not to named said: “Yes, we are open today. Everything is back to normal. There are people inside praying now.”

Thousands of security forces, however, remained in place in the city of 1.8 million people, with about 600 troops manning just one intersection on a road leading into Urumqi’s Uighur district. A helicopter circled overhead.

At Nanhu Square, where police used tear gas to

disperse protesters on Friday, hundreds of People’s Armed Police carrying automatic weapons with bayonets attached created a

security ring around the

regional government headquarters.

All of the roads leading to the giant plaza were closed.