Police officers resorted to raid an apartment and shoot four suspected terrorists in the capital city of Liaoning Province on Monday after coming under attack during a search for terrorists in Shenyang. According to state media, three of the suspected terrorists died on the spot and one - who is allegedly a female - has been transported to a medical facility.

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The BBC cites a statement posted on Weibo by the authorities in Liaoning, which states that police officers were conducting a raid to sweep out terrorists in Shenyang on Monday when they came under attack as they attempted to enter a property. The terrorists, who were said to be wielding "long knives" and shouting jihadist slogans, reportedly ignored warnings as they attacked law enforcement officers.

Police responded by calling for backup and cordoning off the property. Residents in the area were reportedly evacuated before the shootout occurred.

It is unclear if the suspects are from Xinjiang, but they have been referred to as "Xinjiang terrorists" by the local media. The suspects are also alleged to be Uighurs.

This is not the first of such incidents to have occurred this year. In March, police killed a terrorist armed with a knife after he stabbed nine people at a railway station in Guangzhou.

The recent attack exemplifies the threat of terrorism that Chinese authorities have highlighted in the past week following the deportation of about 100 Chinese Uighur Muslims from Thailand. On Saturday, China's Public Security Ministry announced that the illegal migrants had been planning to head to the Middle East to join the jihadist movement.

The deportation of the immigrants has caused tension between China and Turkish citizens - who share strong cultural and religious bonds with the Uighur ethnic group. Chinese authorities have denied accusations of repressing the religious freedom of the country's Uighur population. According to the Ministry of Public Security, Uighur nationalist groups help to radicalize the country's Muslim population and send them off to the Middle East to join the jihadist movement.

One of these Uighur nationalist groups - World Uyghur Congress - has denied these charges. They claim the alleged Uighur terrorists killed in the recent attack had been trying to escape China and were shot because they resisted the police. 

TagsXinjiang Terrorists Shot Dead, 3 Suspected Terrorists Shot in Shenyang, Liaoning Province