China says 129 dead in Xinjiang unrest

BEIJING (Reuters) - Rioting in the China's restive far west region of Xinjiang killed 129 people, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday, sharply raising the government count of dead in the ethnic unrest.

A brief report from Xinhua news agency gave no more details, and an earlier report had merely said a number of people had died in the riots that swept Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang, on Sunday.

The riots and an earlier protest set the Uighur ethnic minority of Xinjiang against security forces.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by David Fox)