A Terrorist Act to Undermine the Kyrgyz-Chinese Relations

Kyrgyz police officers look at the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016. A suspected suicide bomber on Tuesday crashed a car through the entrance of the Chinese Embassy in the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek, detonating a bomb that killed the attacker and wounded embassy employees. (AP Photo/ Vladimir Voronin)

An explosion which occurred in the late August near the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek is officially recognized as a terrorist act.

The explosion on the southern outskirts of Bishkek thundered at 09:33 (AM) by local time. It was heard from almost all over the city. Upon arrival of the first fire brigades, police, and doctors, it became clear that the explosion occurred on the territory of the Chinese Embassy. The driver who was driving a minibus rammed the western gate and entered the territory of the embassy.

The car blew up right next to the ambassador’s residence, who was not in the territory of the embassy at that time. Despite the fact that the diplomatic mission is enclosed by a high fence, which is a substantially extinguished blast in nearby buildings were shattered windows.

Car fragments scattered in a radius of 300 meters. On 6 September, the National Security Committee of Kyrgyzstan has established terrorist attack investigation in China’s Embassy in Bishkek. In this case, five members of a terrorist group were arrested and another four persons have been stated on the wanted list. According to security officers, all the members of the terrorist group were preparing to go to Syria.

As the press service of the National Security Committee announced that the terrorist attack defendants, according to the investigation, are operating in Syria with Uighur terrorist groups which are affiliated with the terrorist organization of “Al-Nusra Front” whose emissaries cooperates the ringleader of an international terrorist organization, “Jamaat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad”.

This information scared many experts because both groups are considered to be very dangerous in the world. For example, the Jamaat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad is a radical Salafi jihadist group under the leadership of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, established in 1999 to overthrow the Jordanian regime. The group became well-known for its distributable video beheadings of several foreign hostages.

The second group of “Al-Nusra Front” is also very dangerous among the religious terrorist organizations operating in the territory of Syria. The group was founded on January 23, 2012, during the civil war in Syria. Before lifting the “Daesh”, this has been viewed as the most aggressive and radical group in the ranks of the opponents of the Syrian government. It is recognized as a terrorist organization by the UN Security Council, Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, UAE, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the USA, Turkey, and France. Since August 2014 the group has become one of the targets of Russian air strikes, but also interfered by the US and its allies in Syria, applied in the fight against “Daesh”.

Hua Chunying, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China: “China is deeply shocked by this act of violence and strongly condemns it. We appealed to the Kyrgyz side to ensure the safety of Chinese institutions and nationals in Kyrgyzstan, as well as immediately begin an investigation into the incident, and severely punish those responsibly.

Political analyst Joshua Kucera points out the importance of the Uighur case in his piece which appeared on Eurasia.net on 31 August 2016: “China’s security policy in Central Asia is already heavily focused on the perceived threat of Uighur separatist groups operating there. Joint military exercises with Central Asian armed forces usually involve a scenario of fighting Uighur-like separatists. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) – a regional group that also includes Russia and all Central Asian states except Turkmenistan – orients its security efforts in Central Asia toward combating the “three evil forces” of “terrorism, extremism and separatism,” a clear echo of Beijing’s rhetoric on the Uighur issue.”

According to some experts, the fact that members of this group are extremely dangerous on the territory of Kyrgyzstan and their numbers may be a lot actually. Marat Imankulov, the former deputy chairman of the State Committee on National Security said, “Counter-intelligence organizations need to work for a month, even a year in advance. Obviously, this is a very hard job. Collecting information about terrorist groups has always been very complicated. However, current circumstances require this; especially the security of the country needs this. For that, you need to liquidate those who give these jobs to explode”.

They defend that there is a version that the terrorists want to undermine the relations between Kyrgyzstan and China. Because the bilateral relations are improving during the recent period. Two sides accept each other as strategic partners.

Talent Razakov: the colonel of the State Committee on National Security said, “This attack was not against Kyrgyzstan. If so, it would be otherwise. These bombers have blown up markets, administrative buildings, and the place where a lot of people are available. These militants have worked against China. There is another version. This terrorist act can be specially made to undermine the Kyrgyz-Chinese relations. But both parties figure out that the terrorists will not be able to undermine the bilateral relations”.

The Kyrgyz side is on this issue did not make statements. But held a series of on safety meetings. According to information representatives of the power block Issues of public safety has been discussed in connection with the terrorist act occurred in the territory of China Embassy in Kyrgyzstan.