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Uighur militants eliminated from tribal areas: Pakistan
Agencies October 19, 2015
BEIJING: Pakistan has eliminated all members of the Uighur group of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) from its territory, but must remain vigilant to ensure they don’t return, the country’s Defence minister said in Beijing on Sunday.
China blames ETIM for carrying out attacks in its far western region of Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, although many foreign experts doubt the group’s existence in a cohesive group.
China, Pakistan’s only major ally in the region, has long urged Islamabad to weed out what it says are militants from Xinjiang, who are holed up in a lawless tribal belt, home to a lethal mix of militant groups, including the Taliban and al Qaeda.
“We believe they’re all eliminated,” Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told reporters on the sidelines of a security forum.
“I think there (were) a small number in tribal areas, they’re all gone or eliminated. There are no more there.”
It is just as much in Pakistan’s interests as China’s to fight Uighur militants, Asif said, denying there was any difference of opinion between Beijing and Islamabad on Pakistan’s efforts to tackle the problem.
“The fight against ETIM is our own fight. It’s not only China’s fight. It’s a joint fight against ETIM, between Pakistan and China, so there is absolutely no difference of opinion on the elimination of ETIM from our tribal areas,” he added.
“We have to be vigilant for a long time that this menace, this infection, does not return.”
Some Xinjiang government officials have said they believe Pakistan is not doing enough to prevent Uighurs from travelling there to become radicalised.
China and Pakistan call each other “all-weather friends” and their close ties have been underpinned by long-standing wariness of their common neighbour, India, and a desire to hedge against US influence across the region.
China and Pakistan are getting ready to finalise a deal for China to sell eight submarines to Pakistan, Asif said, in what could be one of China’s largest overseas weapons sales once it is signed.
“It’s moving smoothly, it’s going ahead,” he said. “We are at the final stage. I think it won’t take very long.”
Kh Asif Sunday said that a stable and peaceful Afghanistan was guarantee to peace and stability of Pakistan and region. He lauded the proactive and positive efforts made by China in finding a peaceful resolution of Afghan problem.
The benefits from projects like China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) could be accrued only through peace which would usher in a new era of development and prosperity in the region, the minister said. He emphasized the need for addressing basic concerns of people of the region and to deny space to extremist elements who take advantage of the fault lines existing in their respective societies.
In order to bring peace and stability, he called for a need to introduce a counter narrative along with a comprehensive social, economic and political reforms package in line with the culture, traditions and aspirations of the people. He condemned all acts of terrorism and called on the world community to recognize the basic reasons responsible for the fissures and fault lines existing within terrorism affected regions.
He also mentioned the hitherto unresolved conflicts of Palestine and Kashmir, the unending events of gross human rights violations and unfulfilled promises by the world community failing to address the root causes of these conflicts. He said that Pakistan gave refuge to over three million Afghans during the Afghan war.
The minister said continued instability in that country had severe impacts, adding that Pakistan had suffered a loss of 60 thousand lives and billions of dollars in economic loss.
He said that Pakistan’s armed forces had conducted various operations in tribal areas since 2003 and the latest operation Zarb-e-Azb vastly outnumbered achievements compared to other international for
Agencies October 19, 2015
BEIJING: Pakistan has eliminated all members of the Uighur group of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) from its territory, but must remain vigilant to ensure they don’t return, the country’s Defence minister said in Beijing on Sunday.
China blames ETIM for carrying out attacks in its far western region of Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, although many foreign experts doubt the group’s existence in a cohesive group.
China, Pakistan’s only major ally in the region, has long urged Islamabad to weed out what it says are militants from Xinjiang, who are holed up in a lawless tribal belt, home to a lethal mix of militant groups, including the Taliban and al Qaeda.
“We believe they’re all eliminated,” Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told reporters on the sidelines of a security forum.
“I think there (were) a small number in tribal areas, they’re all gone or eliminated. There are no more there.”
It is just as much in Pakistan’s interests as China’s to fight Uighur militants, Asif said, denying there was any difference of opinion between Beijing and Islamabad on Pakistan’s efforts to tackle the problem.
“The fight against ETIM is our own fight. It’s not only China’s fight. It’s a joint fight against ETIM, between Pakistan and China, so there is absolutely no difference of opinion on the elimination of ETIM from our tribal areas,” he added.
“We have to be vigilant for a long time that this menace, this infection, does not return.”
Some Xinjiang government officials have said they believe Pakistan is not doing enough to prevent Uighurs from travelling there to become radicalised.
China and Pakistan call each other “all-weather friends” and their close ties have been underpinned by long-standing wariness of their common neighbour, India, and a desire to hedge against US influence across the region.
China and Pakistan are getting ready to finalise a deal for China to sell eight submarines to Pakistan, Asif said, in what could be one of China’s largest overseas weapons sales once it is signed.
“It’s moving smoothly, it’s going ahead,” he said. “We are at the final stage. I think it won’t take very long.”
Kh Asif Sunday said that a stable and peaceful Afghanistan was guarantee to peace and stability of Pakistan and region. He lauded the proactive and positive efforts made by China in finding a peaceful resolution of Afghan problem.
The benefits from projects like China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) could be accrued only through peace which would usher in a new era of development and prosperity in the region, the minister said. He emphasized the need for addressing basic concerns of people of the region and to deny space to extremist elements who take advantage of the fault lines existing in their respective societies.
In order to bring peace and stability, he called for a need to introduce a counter narrative along with a comprehensive social, economic and political reforms package in line with the culture, traditions and aspirations of the people. He condemned all acts of terrorism and called on the world community to recognize the basic reasons responsible for the fissures and fault lines existing within terrorism affected regions.
He also mentioned the hitherto unresolved conflicts of Palestine and Kashmir, the unending events of gross human rights violations and unfulfilled promises by the world community failing to address the root causes of these conflicts. He said that Pakistan gave refuge to over three million Afghans during the Afghan war.
The minister said continued instability in that country had severe impacts, adding that Pakistan had suffered a loss of 60 thousand lives and billions of dollars in economic loss.
He said that Pakistan’s armed forces had conducted various operations in tribal areas since 2003 and the latest operation Zarb-e-Azb vastly outnumbered achievements compared to other international for
