Dubai, July 10 (IANS) Friday prayers were cancelled in China’s Urumqi city where riots have left at least 156 people dead and over 1,000 injured, a media report said.
“Chinese authorities have cancelled Friday Muslim prayers in Urumqi amid security concerns as troops try to keep control following days of deadly unrest in the city,” Al Jazeera reported Friday.
Mosques in the city were ordered closed Friday, the report quoted an unnamed Chinese official as saying.
Several mosques in Xinjiang region’s capital displayed notices announcing the suspension of the usual prayers Friday.
“Under instructions from superiors, normal prayer will be suspended from today,” said a notice dated Wednesday posted at the gateway of the Guyuan mosque.
“Anybody wishing to pray � please do so at home.”
The move comes in the wake of ethnic violence between Han Chinese and Muslim Uighurs.
An Al Jazeera reporter at Urumqi said the situation appeared to be back to normal on Friday although thousands of soldiers remained in the city, most of them stationed at mosques.