China evacuates staff after Chinese nationals killed along Tajikistan-Afghanistan border
After two attacks that left five dead and five wounded, the Chinese embassy in Dushanbe ordered evacuations from the border areas. The Tajik government and the Taliban have said they will cooperate with China amid growing fears that fighters from the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) are behind the attacks (which have not yet been claimed). Instability threatens regional cooperation and China's Belt and Road Initiative projects.
Dushanbe (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Chinese embassy in Dushanbe has urged Chinese companies and their staff to leave all areas bordering Afghanistan following two attacks in which five Chinese nationals were killed and five more were wounded.
Tajik authorities reported that the first attack, which occurred last Friday, killed three Chinese citizens. A second border attack on Sunday killed two more.
Security forces are on high alert, while the Taliban reportedly arrested two suspects in Maimay, a district in Badakhshan, a region bordering Tajikistan. No armed group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The Taliban Foreign Minister, in a phone call to his Tajik counterpart, blamed individuals "seeking to create disorder, instability &mistrust among the countries of the region," adding that the Taliban government “stands ready for information-sharing, technical collaboration & joint assessments in order to identify those responsible for the incident.”
Tajikistan has long had tense diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, despite the country's large Tajik minority (historically opposed to the Taliban government, which is mostly ethnic Pashtun).
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, who condemned the attacks and strengthened border security, had previously complained about the presence of drug traffickers and gold smugglers along the border.
In August Tajik forces carried out a series of military operations, eventually clashing with Afghan border forces.
About a week ago, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Rahmon in Dushanbe to discuss the growing security risks posed by Afghanistan, perhaps expecting renewed terrorist activities in the region.
Over the past few years, China has become one of the largest investors in the former Soviet republic, where Chinese companies are primarily involved in mining and construction projects.
At present, all Central Asian countries are seeking to expand trade and cooperation with Afghanistan despite ongoing security challenges.
This process must be seen within a broader framework. In recent months, Pakistan has repeatedly attacked Afghanistan due to Kabul's support for the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), who aim to set up a state in Pakistan modelled after the Islamic Emirate.
Islamabad is also continuing to expel Afghan refugees to exert further pressure on Kabul, while border crossings have been closed for over 50 days, generating losses of approximately US$ 200 million, according to estimates.
For this reason, Afghanistan is seeking to further develop trade relations with Central Asian states.
For its part, China has long been concerned about the rise of terrorist groups in Central Asia following the Taliban's comeback in 2021, which has galvanised several groups that exploit the region's porous borders.
This is precisely why the first joint exercise of the China-Central Asia Special Police Skills Challenge was held in September.
Some 80 elite officers from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan took part in a competition aimed at building strong partnerships in the fight against terrorism and cross-border criminal activity.
The exercise took place in Urumqi, in the Xinjiang region, an area known for Beijing's repression of the indigenous Uyghur minority.
The Turkestan Islamic Party (known internationally as the TIP) is of particular concern.
Last year, the movement's leader, Abdul Haq Turkistani (who is based in Afghanistan), shortly before the overthrow of former dictator Bashar al-Assad in Syria, warned: “The Chinese disbelievers will soon taste the same treatment that the disbelievers in [Syria] have tasted, if God wills.”
The TIP was very active in Syria, and it is no coincidence that over the past year, Beijing has expressed concern about the influx of thousands of Uyghur fighters into the Syrian army.
Several analysts had long predicted that the TIP was waiting for the right moment to return to Xinjiang and renew its separatist campaign.
However, the roads and borders leading to the autonomous province from China remain impenetrable, so it is likely that various militants have taken up position in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, where training camps run by the Taliban are located. This makes them an ideal place to attack China's Belt and Road Initiative.
If the TIP were to claim responsibility for the attack, the Taliban regime would find itself in a tough spot. Internationally isolated, it has been trying to get a piece of Chinese investments, but as it did with Pakistan, it now risks the loss of economic opportunities due to armed groups hosted on its territory and along its borders.
.png)
