URUMQI - Police shot dead 14 terrorists in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region Sunday night when the police came under attack during hunt for criminal suspects, said local police.

Shufu County police were carrying out search for the criminal suspects at a village of Shufu County, Kashgar Prefecture, around 11 pm when some gangsters threw explosive devices at them and attacked them with knives, sources with the police said.

The police fought back and shot dead 14 terrorists and captured two criminal suspects. Two policemen died in the attack, said the sources.

A further investigation into the case is under way.