UpdateUygur militant behind attack on China’s embassy in Kyrgyzstan named by security service

Authorities in Kyrgyzstan have blamed Uygur militants in Syria for masterminding the suicide bomb attack against the Chinese embassy in the Central Asian country.

A van exploded after ramming through a gate at China’s diplomatic outpost in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek on August 30, killing the driver and injuring three local embassy employees.

The suspected suicide bomber was an ethnic Uygur who held a Tajik passport in the name of Zoir Khalilov, Kyrgyzstan’s state security service said on Tuesday.

Khalilov was a member of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the GKNB security service said in a statement.

China has condemned the attack and urged Kyrgyz authorities to quickly investigate.

“The investigation established that the terrorist act was ordered by Uygur terrorist groups active in Syria and affiliated to the terrorist organisation the Nusra Front whose emissaries ... financed the terrorist action,” the GKNB said.