nick’s (n)-line life

Six villagers were killed and eight badly hurt when several hundred allegedly hired thugs descended on a village in northern China and clashed with local residents over a land dispute. [read in full]

The raw video footage of the Shengyou Attack is being offered by the Washington Post.

Warning: The video is unedited and it potentially distressing.

Update: (date changed from 15/6/05 to 16/6/05)

The China Digital Times is now reporting that the government has banned state media from reporting on this event.

Update:

BBC News offers a good summary

Footage of the clashes in the Chinese village
Residents were resisting the takeover of property
Dramatic footage has emerged of a riot in a Chinese village at the weekend in which six people are reported to have been killed.

The pictures show local farmers fighting a pitched battle with dozens of unknown men wearing camouflage gear and construction helmets.

Hunting rifles and clubs were used in the bloody clashes in the northern village of Shenyou.

It was filmed by a resident and then given to the Washington Post newspaper.

Chinese state media said that the residents had been resisting the takeover of their property by an electricity company which wants to build a power plant there.

Violent disputes like this one are common in China, where competition for useable land is fierce.

The eviction of local people to make way for new developments is becoming one of the country’s sharpest social issues.