China today vowed to work with other countries in the region to fight terrorism after Kyrgyzstan said a recent suicide bomb attack on the Chinese embassy in the Kyrgyz capital was planned by Uighur militants active in Syria and carried out by the East Turkistan Islamic Movement.
"The East Turkistan forces represented by ETIM conducted multiple terrorist activities in and outside China. They have blood all over their hands," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters here.
"We will firmly strike against them and safeguard the safety of Chinese people in foreign countries. We will work together with other countries to fight against terrorism and safeguard stability of the world," she said.
Hua's remarks came after the Kyrgyz government identified the al-Qaeda linked ETIM militants -- active in China's Muslim-majority Xinjiang province -- as the perpetrators of the August 30 attack on the Chinese mission in Bishkek that killed one person and wounded five others.
The Kyrgyz authorities said the attack was organised by Uyghur terrorists active in Syria and affiliated with Jabhat al-Nusra, an Islamist militant group fighting in Syria.
Terming ETIM as a well recognised terrorist force, Hua said it has been active in central Asia and Syria posing grave threat to not only to the China but also to other countries.
"To fight againstETIM is a core concern of China in the anti-terrorism cooperation with the rest of the world. We will strengthen corporation with other countries to fight against terrorism and safeguard the stability of China, Kyrgyzstan as well as other counters in the region," she said.
Militancy-hit Xinjiang is the home of Uyghur Muslims and has witnessed unrest over the increasing settlements of Hans in the province.
Many members of ETIM, who are drawn from Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) and Afghanistan, have joined the Islamic State (IS) to fight in Syria, according to recent reports.
China apprehends that many of them may return to carry out attacks in Xinjiang and other parts of the country.
While China blamed it for the attack, the ETIM, a shadowy organisation has never claimed responsibility for the attacks.
In bid to curtail infiltration, China recently formed Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism involvingAfghanistan-China-Pakistan-Tajikistan Armed Forces to step up security along the borders. It is not clear why China omitted Kyrgyzstan from the border security mechanism.
Besides this the China-Pakistan border police also launched border patrols along the PoK-Xinjiang borders.
China has close security cooperation with Kyrgyzstan which is a member of the Beijing-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Besides China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan are its members.
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