(For more stories on trouble in Xinjiang, click [ID:nXINJIANG])

URUMQI, China, July 7 (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters from China's Han ethnic majority defied volleys of tear gas on Tuesday as they briefly broke through police lines in Urumqi, the capital of the Muslim region of Xinjiang, a Reuters reporter said.

The confrontation occurred two days after ethnic unrest killed 156 and wounded more than 1,000 in the city of 2.3 million.

The Han protesters, some wielding meat cleavers, metal rods, shovels and wooden clubs, used water to wash tear gas out of their eyes. (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Writing by Alan Wheatley; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

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