Taliban tells China that ETIM militants have left Afghanistan

BEIJING: The Taliban have informed China that the ETIM militants from the volatile Xinjiang province who reportedly converged in Afghanistan have left the war-torn country after it told them to leave. Since its seizing power in Kabul, the Taliban have been facing intense pressure from Beijing, which has been vocal in expressing its concern over the Uighur militants of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) fighting for the independence of Xinjiang, regrouping in Afghanistan.

Many of the ETIM members have left Afghanistan because the Taliban have categorically told them that there is no place for anyone to use Afghanistan against other countries Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen told China’s state-run Global Times. Shaheen said after the message, he did not see that “anyone, in any place” will be able to stay in Afghanistan, especially those “who are intending to carry out sabotage activities in other countries or have their foreign agenda”.

He said in future, the counter-terrorism work will be conducted by the country's ministry of defence, ministry of interior and intelligence department. Shaheen, however, did not answer directly whether the Taliban will extradite ETIM members to China if Beijing requests it in the future, the report said.