China has been left embarrassed after, a 10- member Chinese spying racket, that operated a terror cell has been busted in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS), started their crackdown on this group on December 10 and has detained the Chinese citizens on charges of espionage and being involved in terrorism. The terror cell that was arrested, are believed to be linked to China’s spy agency, said Ministry of State Security.
NDS arrested a Chinese national, Li Yangyang from his residence in Kabul. He had been working in the West Asian nation since July. Arms, ammunition, explosives, including Ketamine powder, were also found in his home. A Chinese national called Sha Hung was also arrested the same day. She stayed in the Shirpur area of Kabul and also stocked explosives in her home
After the arrests of Yangyang and Hung, who are said to be the ones driving the espionage system in Afghanistan, more spies were nabbed. The group reportedly had meetings with the top brass of the terrorist group Haqqani Network. Pakistan’s notorious spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), apparently worked as a mediator between the Chinese spies and the terror group.
Officials said that China and Pakistan are working to disrupt the Afghan peace talks. Both are trying to establish themselves as dominant forces in the region and influence the Taliban and Al-Qaeda once the US security forces withdraw. The two arrested spies were also in touch with some Taliban leaders and were also tracking the moment of the Uighur activists who had fled to Afghanistan.
“Chinese spies were working on a project to target and eliminate Uighur leaders in Afghanistan through terrorists to ensure abandonment of the rebel movement against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” said a source. It is said that Afghanistan officials will now carry out an investigation and check whether there were any Pakistani ties.
Islamabad, the ally of Beijing, has supported the latter’s inhumane treatment of Uighur Muslims. In the late 1990s, Pakistan failed to help Uighurs who settled in Northwestern tribal areas of the country after fleeing violence in China. They were either deported or assassinated.
The Afghan security establishment believes that Chinese spies were working to create a fake East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) module to infiltrate the actual ETIM operatives. ETIM is a United Nations Security Council-designated group that works in Xinjiang. It is believed that China uses ETIM as an excuse to violate the human rights of minority Uighurs. ETIM is no longer identified as a terrorist group by the United States.
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has been informed about the developments and he tasked First Vice President Amrullah Saleh to oversee the probe. Saleh, the former chief of the Afghan intelligence agency, met Chinese envoy Wang Yu to inform him about the detentions. Afghanistan would consider a pardon if China apologizes formally.
