By Associated Press, Washington Post, April 21 2012
BEIJING — A Chinese city government says villagers with sickles and clubs protesting against mining activities in the southwest attacked police, killing one officer and injuring 15 others.
The Lijiang city government in Yunnan province said late Friday that the violence erupted on Wednesday as villagers were gathered at a township government office to express concern that activities at a coal mine could trigger geological disasters.
The city government says in a statement posted on the provincial news portal that the villagers had camped out for several days with luggage and cooking utensils and had threatened officials and damaged government property.
It says police were trying to persuade the villagers to leave when they were attacked and that no villagers were hurt.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
