Chinese police shot dead two armed people and injured third on Monday following the bloody riot in Xinjiang, state-run Xinhua said, bringing the death toll to 186 in a week.

Police shot dead two people and injured another in an attempt to stop them from attacking one person on Monday in Urumqi, Xinhua reported, citing authorities from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government.

An initial investigation found that the three people were attacking the fourth person with clubs and knives at 2:55 p.m. near the People's Hospital at Jiefang Nanlu, Xinhua said.

The cops asked the suspects to drop their weapons and surrender but they allegedly refused and became violent towards the police, prompting them to fire, China Daily said.

All four people involved were of the Uygur ethnic group.

Two suspects died at the scene and the injured was rushed to the hospital.

The police is still investigating the incident, it said.

As the police tries to restore normalcy in the riot-hit city, they have ordered citizens to carry identity cards when they step out of their homes.

Police will take away for interrogation anyone who does not have a card, said the Urumqi Public Security Bureau.

The Urumqi violence on July 5, 2009 has left at least 186 people dead and 1,681 others injured as of Monday.

The death toll may continue to climb from the existing 186, with authorities saying Sunday that 74 of the injured are on the verge of death.

Among the dead, 137 were said to be Han, 26 of whom were women. And 48 Uygurs died, including one woman. A man of Hui descent also died, according to the information office of the regional government.

At least one of the dead was a paramilitary policeman, while 10 other police were seriously injured, according to the Xinjiang Armed Police Forces.

In addition to death and injuries, a total of 627 vehicles, including buses and police cars, were damaged or torched.