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President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain (right) in Beijing on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Pakistan tells China ‘almost all’ Uygur militants eliminated

Pakistan's President Mamnoon Hussain - in Beijing for Thursday's military parade - says recent 'Zarb-e-Azb' anti-terror operation 'has been successful in eradicating terrorism from our country'

Almost all members of the Uygur militant group the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) have been eliminated from Pakistan, the country’s president said on Wednesday during a visit to Beijing.

China blames violent unrest in its far western region of Xinjiang on Islamist separatist groups such as ETIM, who it said wanted to set up an independent state called East Turkestan and have bases in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Many foreign experts, however, have questioned whether ETIM exists as the coherent group that China claims it is.

At a meeting with President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People, Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain said a recent anti-terror operation codenamed Zarb-e-Azb “has been successful in eradicating the terrorism from our country”.

Hussain said: “It has also been very helpful in eliminating the ETIM element from our country and I think almost all the ETIM people in our country have been eliminated. Maybe, if they are there, there should be very few.”

China and Pakistan were “iron brothers” and always helped each other “with great zeal”, he added.

Hussain is in China to attend Thursday’s military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war in Asia.

Hundreds of people have died in violence in Xinjiang in the past few years, which Beijing has blamed on the militants.

Rights groups believe the real cause of the unrest is Chinese restrictions on the Islamic faith and culture of the Uygur people, who call the region home.

China said ETIM recruited Uygurs who have gone to Turkey and trained them with extremist groups in Syria and Iraq, with the intent of returning to Xinjiang to wage holy war.

 

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