A confrontation involving axes, knives, at least one gun and ending with the burning down of a house left 21 people dead in China's troubled far-west region of Xinjiang, a government spokeswoman said on Wednesday, calling it a "terrorist attack".

Nine residents, six police and six ethnic Uighurs were killed in Tuesday's violence, said Hou Hanmin, spokeswoman for the Xinjiang government.

It was not immediately clear how many burnt to death.

Three "community workers" were patrolling a neighbourhood of Bachu County, known as Maralbexi by Uighurs, in Kashgar after a tip-off that there were "suspicious people" in a private house.

One of the three used a phone to call for help after they found a number of knives, resulting in their being killed by 14 Uighur "rioters" in the house.

Several police and other "community workers" came in different groups to the home where the Uighurs used axes and large knives to slash the police officers and workers.

The battle ended with the gang members burning down the house, killing the rest of the people there.

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