Authorities in China’s far-flung western region of East Turkestan (Xinjiang) have detained 380 people and busted 32 terror cells in a month-long crackdown.

Authorities in China's far-flung western region of East Turkestan (Xinjiang) have detained 380 people and busted 32 terror cells in a month-long crackdown, state media said on Monday, following an upsurge in attacks blamed on separatists.

China has been toughening its response after a spate of bloody incidents nationwide centered on East Turkestan, the traditional home of the Uighurs.

The official Legal Daily said 315 people had been tried for terror-related offences, at least 13 of whom have been executed, an announcement made last week. Six police officers had died on the job as well, the report added.

Police also seized 264 explosive devices, 357 weapons, 101 computers, books and DVDs, the newspaper said.

It gave instances of some cases, from the seizures of bows and arrows in the city of Aksu to the testing of bombs in the Gobi desert.

Authorities praised public support for the campaign, including reports about suspicious people, the paper said.

Exiled Uighur groups and human rights activists say the government's own repressive policies in East Turkestan have provoked unrest, a claim Beijing denies.

Around 200 people have died in unrest in East Turkestan in the past year or so, the government says, including 13 people shot dead by police in a weekend attack on a police station.

China has tightened its grip on public discussion about East Turkestan too.