Afghan forces arrest suspect linked to attacks on Chinese nationals

KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghan security forces have arrested a suspect during an operation in Faizabad, the capital of northeastern Badakhshan province, after targeting a hideout allegedly linked to recent attacks that killed and injured Chinese citizens in Tajikistan, sources said.

The operation resulted in the arrest of one wanted individual, along with the seizure of weapons and military ammunition.

Sources said the hideout was used by suspects believed to have carried out attacks on Chinese nationals in Tajikistan from border areas of Badakhshan province.

On November 27, Reuters reported that two attacks near the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border over a two-week period left five Chinese citizens dead and five others wounded.

Following the attacks, the Chinese Embassy in Dushanbe urged its citizens to leave border regions between Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Sources told Al-Mersad that preliminary findings and initial confessions by the detained suspect indicate the planning of the attacks took place outside Afghanistan. Investigations into the incident are ongoing.

Meanwhile, on December 2, Afghanistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, in a telephone conversation with his Tajik counterpart, condemned the killing and wounding of Chinese citizens in Tajikistan and said certain groups were attempting to undermine positive relations between the two countries.

sa