Seeking to enhance its role in Afghanistan, China has been prodding the Taliban administration to crack down on the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a separatist militant outfit in Xinjiang which allegedly has links with radical outfits like Al Qaeda and Islamic State. It has been holding continuous meetings with officials from Kabul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), with ETIM being a major talking point.
In the first round of meetings, China had categorically asked for a list of ETIM activists based in Afghanistan. Kabul’s Interior Ministry, however, denied Beijing’s demand, saying the activists have been “our guests for a very long period of time”.
In the second round of meetings, Beijing asked the Taliban to shift the ETIM activists’ bases to borders near China’s labour camps. This request was reportedly accepted by the Taliban, with the expenditure to be borne by China.
In the latest development, sources said the Chinese have zeroed in on an ETIM member who is allegedly connected to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan as well – a man named Tariq who reportedly operates from Attock and Kabul.
Beijing has reportedly told the Taliban that it is ready to cooperate in areas like fire-fighting, IT and medicine as asked by the regime in return for handing over Tariq. But Afghanistan is said to have replied that it is not “our culture to hand over (someone)” like this, assuring Beijing meanwhile that it will not allow its territory to be used for attacks on foreign entities.
The ETIM, which is stated to be an affiliate of al-Qaeda, is a militant group from China’s volatile Xinjiang province. It is fighting for the independence of the province, which is home to over 10-million Uygur Muslims.
The United Nations Security Council Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee listed ETIM as a terrorist organisation in 2002.
According to a UN report, hundreds of militants belonging to the ETIM converged in Afghanistan amidst the military advances made by the Taliban in 2021 when it swept to power after the hasty withdrawal of US troops.
Xinjiang shares borders with Afghanistan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir besides Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Comments
0 comment