BEIJING - The People's Daily called for steadfast efforts to maintain social stability in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in a commentary published on Tuesday.

The flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said in the commentary that violent terrorist attacks that have recently occurred in Xinjiang have compromised local people's safety.

Sixteen knife-wielding religious extremists killed 24 people on Wednesday in Shanshan county of Turpan Prefecture. Local police shot and killed 11 of the attackers and apprehended the other five.

People from all ethnic groups in the region have learned that social stability is essential to their pursuit of happiness, the commentary said.

Decades of development have shown that Xinjiang's economy can grow sound when social stability is secure, the commentary said.

The commentary called for greater efforts to maintain stability in order to sustain the region's developmental momentum.

The commentary said the fight against separatist and terrorist attacks in Xinjiang will be long and complicated, calling for a resolute crackdown on such attacks.

The article said the "three forces" of terrorism, extremism and separatism must be deterred in order to maintain stability in Xinjiang.

Maintaining social stability and pursuing development is in line with the fundamental interests of all local ethnic groups in Xinjiang and the common will of all Chinese, the commentary added.