About 1,000 people protested Thursday in different parts of Urumqi, capital of the restive Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, demanding protection from hypodermic syringe attacks, according to local police.

Shop owners at the Chenggong Plaza and Baiqing Market did not open for business and gathered at the entrances of the marketplaces. Protesters, including ethnic Uygurs, also turned up at a cinema and a produce market.

The protests erupted after a man stabbed a five-year-old girl with a syringe. Many members of other ethnic groups reported syringe stabbings in recent days and police arrested 15 suspects.

Reports by the local media said there were 476 victims of the hypodermic needle attacks but no had been infected.

Urumqi was the scene of deadly riots lasting two months since July 5. The unrest killed 197 people and injured 1,600 others.