BEIJING - The latest unrest in China's Xinjiang region at the weekend left at least 140 people dead, according to a government spokeswoman.

Following is a chronology of key events related to the restive region since May 2008:

2008
May 5 - Three killed in bus bombing in Shanghai. The Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) claims responsibility.

July 8 - Chinese authorities say police killed five Muslims who were planning a "holy war" in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital.

July 21 - Three buses bombed in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan province, killing two people. TIP claims responsibility. China says TIP not responsible, but gives no details.

August 4 - China says "terrorists" kill 17 policemen at a police station in Kashgar, days before the Beijing Olympics open.

August 10 - Ten attackers and one security guard are killed in bombings and a shoot-out with police in the remote city of Kuqa.

August 12 - Three security officers are killed when assailants jump off a vehicle passing through a checkpoint and stab them.

August 27 - Two policemen are killed and five wounded while searching a cornfield near Kashgar, western Xinjiang, for a suspect connected with an earlier attack.

August 29 - Chinese police kill six and arrest three others in a clash in Kashgar prefecture.

2009
February 25 - A couple from Xinjiang set themselves on fire with their son in central Beijing over a dispute with their local government. They survive.

April 9 - China executes two Muslim men in Kashgar for what it says was a "terrorist" attack that took place on August 4 and left 17 policemen dead.

July 5 - Violence breaks out in Urumqi, with initial official reports putting the number of casualties at three dead.