In claiming responsibility for the attack on a Shia mosque in Kunduz in Afghanistan on Friday, the , the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) has asserted that "the perpetrator of the attack was from among the Uyghur muslims, whom the Taliban have pledged to expel and exclude in response to China's demands and their policies against Muslims”. The ISKP statement underlined that the attacker was ethnic Uyghur — an oppressed Muslim minority in western China. China has long been concerned that Afghanistan could become a haven for Uyghur militants who might seek to attack Chinese government interests in revenge for its abuses against the muslim population in Xinjiang.
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China is particularly worried about the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM ) which has, as per UN reports, moved 1000 fighters along with Tajik, Uzbeks and Chechen fighters in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province that shares a border with Xinjiang province of China.
Earlier EITM and other groups have fought along with the Taliban and helped them capturing of Northern Afghanistan but China made it clear to the Taliban leaders that if they want Chinese help they will have to “make a clean break with all terrorist organisations including East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) which poses a direct threat to China's national security and territorial integrity. But the Taliban has not fulfilled its promises so far.
According to Afghan sources, China has mounted pressure on Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Interior Minister of the Taliban government for extradition of prominent members of militant outfit ETIM. According to Afghan sources, the Taliban did try to move ETIM and Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) fighters from the Afghan-China border but they refused to do so. Then The Taliban tried to relocate them on Tajik border and told the Chinese that Uyghur militants were not operating in Afghanistan. It was then the ETIM decided to align with the ISKP which has accused the Taliban of abandoning jihad in favour of negotiated peace settlement in Afghanistan is a cause of deep concern among Chinese authorities. The group’s supreme leader Shahab al-Muhajir had last year announced a long war against the Taliban and the then Afghan government.
Though the Taliban insists that ISKP was "not as much of a threat" in Afghanistan media outlets were ignoring the Taliban's claims to have "driven out" ISKP fighters from strongholds east of Kabul but recent attacks by the insurgent group belies these claims. There are also reports that some disgruntled Taliban foot soldiers are believed to have abandoned the group to join ISKP and al-Qaeda and some of ISKP leaders are inside the Taliban too.
For China it is a double threat. While the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been a major threat in Pakistan, in Afghanistan, China’s challenges have just begun.
