China's Xinjiang No Longer Origin Of Extremists Arriving In Syria - Ambassador In Beijing

China's Xinjiang No Longer Origin of Extremists Arriving in Syria - Ambassador in Beijing

An influx of extremists from China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to Syria has stopped, Syrian Ambassador in Beijing Imad Moustapha told Sputnik, adding that only several hundred militants of Xinjiang origin remain inside the Arab country

BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2021) An influx of extremists from China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to Syria has stopped, Syrian Ambassador in Beijing Imad Moustapha told Sputnik, adding that only several hundred militants of Xinjiang origin remain inside the Arab country.

Xinjiang, China's largest province that borders seven countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, has long been considered as a hotbed of terrorism and extremism. According to the Chinese authorities, it lodged East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a terrorist group which Beijing accused of having links with international terrorist organizations, in particular, Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia).

"Yes, the flow of radical elements from Xinjiang has stopped. There is still a certain number of them in Syria that are under the protection of Turkey ... I can say that the number of radicalized elements in Xinjiang is getting smaller and smaller. Now, we can talk about several hundred people," Moustapha said.

The highest ever number of Xinjiang radicals in Syria who were engaged in terrorist activities totaled some 6,000-7,000, the diplomat added.

In a 2017 interview with Sputnik, the ambassador said that about 5,000 militants from Xinjiang fought in the territory of Syria, adding that all of them reached the country via Turkey.

Ankara has repeatedly stated that it is doing everything possible to prevent the movement of foreign militants, who want to fight alongside the Islamic State (a terrorist group banned in Russia), across its border with Syria. In 2015, 324 of the 913 foreign fighters detained on the Turkish-Syrian border were Chinese nationals, the most of any country.