Chinese authorities have confirmed several villagers were shot dead by police in a protest earlier this week. 6 people died as result of the shooting in Guangdong province on Tuesday, the Xinhua news agency says after days of official silence. If that is true, these killings could represent the deadliest use of force by security personnel against protesters in China since Tiananmen Square. Authorities accuse armed rebels that they used displeasure of people by work of local electricity station to provoke the crowd. Protests against corruption, pollution and land seizures have become increasingly common in rural China. Last year 74 thousands of incidents were registered. More than 170 people participated in protest action in Dunjou village this Tuesday. By appeal of ringleaders, demonstrates threw fireworks and bottles with fuel at policemen. Police has started preventive fire. As a result 3 people were killed at the spot and several were seriously injured. At the same moment witnesses of incident reported that at least 12 people were killed. BBC news