Beijing: China has reportedly urged Pakistan government to make more efforts to end the presence of ethnic Uighur Islamic militants in the country’s tribal areas. According to Pakistani officials, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi raised the issue with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari during his recent visit to Islamabad.
Uighur militants are members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). They have run sanctuaries and training facilities in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region since the mid-1990s.
According to the BBC, the militants claim they are fighting to liberate China`s Muslim majority in Xinjiang province.
China has said that the group, with links to al Qaeda, is responsible for unrest in Xinjiang. According to the report, in April, China posted profiles of six Uighur suspects on its website, saying they were operating in South Asia, without naming Pakistan.
ANI