Uyghur Separatist Threat Could Reach Beyond China's Xinjiang

2024-12-17 08:14:07

(MENAFN- Asia Times) The rapid collapse of the Syrian Arab Army in the face of the advance of Turkish-backed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the UN Security Council has identified as a terrorist group, has drawn attention to the foreign fighters within their ranks.

First and foremost among those foreign fighters are the Uyghurs from China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. They used to fight China as part of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement but rebranded as the Turkistan Islamic Party some years back.

Regardless of whichever name they go by, the group has been involved in Idlib since 2017, when reports began circulating about its colonies in that corner of Syria. The organization has a history of collaborating with terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda in support of the quest to carve out a Uyghur state from China. That's why it was designated as a terrorist group by the UN Security Council. The United States removed its own such designation in late 2020 giving the reason that the group had become inactive, but now it's known that this wasn't true.

Members of the group just released a video from Syria calling for militant jihad against China. Yang Xiaotong contributed a detailed Asia Times piece on this subject under the title“China has cause to be terrified of rebel-run Syria .” Two of the most important points are that the Turkistan Islamic Party is recruiting members from Central Asia and that it could reestablish itself in Afghanistan to carry out attacks against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The corridor is considered to be the Belt and Road Initiative's flagship project, and for years it's been the target of attacks by the Balochistan Liberation Army, which Pakistan, China and even the US have designated as a terrorist organization. The BLA has ramped up its attacks since the Afghan Taliban reconquered Afghanistan and gave sanctuary to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

The Balochistan Liberation Army and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan are now considered to be informal allies. Both seek to damage the Pakistani state: BLA wants to carve out an independent Balochistan while the TTP wants to impose a radical Islamic dictatorship.

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