On Monday, a court in the city of Kashgar also handed out heavy sentences to dozens of others, saying the accused were found guilty of a number of crimes including terrorism, murder, kidnap, and making explosives.

A further 15 people were given suspended death sentences; nine got life in jail, whereas 20 people received sentences ranging from four to 20 years. According to the Reuters news agency, judging by their names, all these people belong to the minority Muslim Uighur community.

Beijing blames the Uighur Islamists for orchestrating the July 28 attacks in which 59 knife-wielding "terrorists" were gunned down by security forces in the towns of Elixku and Huangdi.

Hundreds of people have been killed in China's restive northwestern region in the past two years, mostly in clashes between Uighurs and the ethnic Han Chinese. The central government in Beijing also accuses Xinjiang's Islamist militants – who it says wants to establish an independent East Turkestan state - of attacks in other parts of the country. A market attack in May in the region's capital Urumqi left 39 dead. In September, the police shot dead 40 rioters, including some suicide bombers, after explosions in Luntai county.

According to Amnesty International, a total 778 executions were carried out in 2013 across the world. Amnesty believes that the Chinese government alone carries out more than 778 executions, but excludes China from its annual count citing a lack of reliable information.

Policewoman killed

The Chinese state media reported on Monday that two "thugs" had stabbed a policewoman to death in Xinjiang's Pishan county. The assailants on motorbikes used sharp weapons to "cruelly attack and kill" the lady, said the China Central Television (CCTV). The attack took place on Friday, however, the media only reported it on Monday.

CCTV did not specify the ethnicity of the policewoman but said that the two-month pregnant woman's name suggested she was an Uighur.

Exiled Uighur groups and rights activists claim that Beijing's repressive policies in Xinjiang are responsible for the unrest in the region, an accusation the government denies.

In September, a Chinese court sentenced prominent Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti to life in prison for "separatism."

shs/msh (Reuters, AFP)