China to build Counter-Terrorism Base in Northern Afghanistan’s Badakshan province

China has announced to provide financial support to construct counter-terrorism base in Badakshan province of northern Afghanistan that would prevent cross-border infiltration of the Chinese Uyghur militants.
The decision in this regard was taken during recent meeting of Afghanistan Defence Minister Tariq Shah Bahrami, Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan.

Counter-Terrorism Base in Badakshan province

The location of counter-terrorism base has not yet been decided. The Chinese funding will include all material i.e. weaponry, uniforms for soldiers, military equipment expenses and technical costs. China and Afghanistan have formed a special commission to finalise the location of base, evaluate construction costs and manage other technical issues.

Background

China side fears that Chinese Uyghurs militants, a Turkic ethnic Muslim group concentrated in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China were trained in Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan that were operational during Taliban rule in Afghanistan prior to 2001. Largest group of these militants already resides in Afghan province of Badakhshan.
China believes that some ethnic Uyghurs are part of Islamic State present in Afghanistan’s northern regions. They may enter into China through Afghanistan and make problems in its restive Xinjiang province, the largest of China’s administrative regions, is inhabited mostly by Uighurs.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2018