**Thousands of troops remain on the streets of Urumqi in China’s Xinjiang region, as the authorities there try to restore normality.**Helicopters dropped leaflets and trucks blared out messages, appealing for calm and blaming extremists for violence that has left at least 156 people dead.
Some shops are open but correspondents say the city remains tense and divided.
Tension has been high since ethnic violence began on Sunday between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese.
‘Oppose separatism’
The BBC’s Quentin Sommerville in Urumqi says security forces put on another huge show of force on Thursday.
Map showing protest areas in Urumqi
In one of the Uighur neighbourhoods, mosques were open but, our correspondent says, life was not back to normal for the residents, who said they were scared of the security forces by day and of the Han Chinese by night.
XINJIANG: ETHNIC UNREST
- Main ethnic division: 45% Uighur, 40% Han Chinese
- 26 June: Mass factory brawl after dispute between Han Chinese and Uighurs in Guangdong, southern China, leaves two Uighurs dead
- 5 July: Uighur protest in Urumqi over the dispute turns violent, leaving 156 dead - most of them thought to be Han - and more than 1,000 hurt
- 7 July: Uighur women protest at arrests of menfolk. Han Chinese make armed counter-march
- 8 July: President Hu Jintao returns from G8 summit to tackle crisis
Security forces continue to separate the Uighur and Han neighbourhoods, but reporters found few signs of the vigilante groups that had been roaming the streets since Sunday.
One Han woman told the AFP news agency: “How can it return to normal with so many soldiers. I’ve counted 42 military trucks so far, and more trucks just came by.”
Crowds of Han Chinese have been cheering on the security forces as they travelled in trucks carrying banners that declared “We must defeat the terrorists” and “Oppose ethnic separatism and hatred”.
Many Uighurs remain angry over the arrests made since the violence began.
More than 1,400 people are thought to have been detained.
One woman told the Associated Press: “The men they arrested still have not returned. It has been three days and we haven’t been able to talk with them. We have no news.”
The crisis forced Chinese President Hu Jintao to abandon plans to attend the G8 summit in Italy and fly back to Beijing.
However, there has still been no public comment from senior government figures on the worst ethnic violence in the country for decades.
Local Communist authorities have spoken, saying that those found guilty of murder in the riots will be executed.
Tear gas
The violence began on Sunday when Uighurs rallied to protest against a deadly brawl between Uighurs and Han several weeks ago in a toy factory in southern Guangdong province.
Officials say 156 people - mostly Han - died in Sunday’s violence. Uighur groups say many more have died, claiming 90% of the dead were Uighurs.
There were further protests on Tuesday when Uighur women rallied against the arrest of family members.
Groups of Han Chinese armed with clubs then marched through the streets in a counter-protest that police broke up with tear gas.
Tensions have been growing in Xinjiang for many years, as Han migrants have poured into the region, where the Uighur minority is concentrated.
Many Uighurs feel economic growth has bypassed them and complain of discrimination and diminished opportunities.
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