Afghanistan Welcomes Chinese Anti-terror Proposal

KABUL / WASHINGTON—

China's military chief General Fang Fenghui is in the Afghan capital, Kabul, talking to the Afghan leadership about a four-nation regional alliance against terrorism.

China's proposed anti-terror plan includes China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The three countries in the proposed alliance share borders with the western regions of China, where anti-Beijing sentiment is prevalent in the Muslim Uighur ethnic group. 

The Turkic ethnic group living in Xinjiang province has been looking since the early 1990s for greater political and religious autonomy. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan to some extent have been plagued by religious militancy for decades.

Chinese Uighurs are believed to be operating inside China from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas.

Speaking to VOA, Sayed Zafar Hashemi — deputy spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani — said the Chinese military chief asked for Afghanistan's participation in the Chinese-proposed anti-terrorism mechanism with Pakistan and Tajikistan. "President Ghani has endorsed the proposal," he said. - Read More at the voanews

Afghanistan Welcomes Chinese Anti-terror Proposal