Armoured cars on streets of Beijing as terrorism fears grow

Each holds up to six Chinese soldiers and they have been placed outside potential terror targets in the city.

Guards with machineguns have also been stationed outside the Athletes' Village in a marked tightening of security around the complex.

On guard: An armoured personnel carrier stands watch outside the main press centre in a new security clampdown in Beijing

One armoured vehicle has been positioned within yards of the Bird's Nest stadium, where the Olympic opening ceremony took place. It is also close to the Water Cube where the swimming and diving finals are being held.

Another is guarding the main entrance to the press and broadcasting centres within the Olympic Green, where most of the competition venues are found.

A spokesman for the Beijing Organising Committee claimed to have no knowledge of the armoured vehicles.

The security crackdown came after a series of fresh terror attacks in China's troubled Xinjiang province that have left half a dozen dead.

In the second attack in the region in a week, bombers hit 17 sites - including a police station, government building, bank and shops - in the mostly Muslim city of Kuqa on Sunday.

Chinese authorities are alleged by human rights groups to have arrested 90 Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic-minority group accused of being responsible for the bombings.

Activists say the Muslims have been rounded up and tortured.

Last Friday terrorist group the Turkestan Islamic Party, based in Xinjiang, released a video threatening an attack on the Olympic Games.

It showed a burning Olympic logo and an explosion superimposed over a Games site.