China forms antiterror alliance with Pakistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 5 August 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, China forms antiterror alliance with Pakistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, 5 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57db99ba13.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
August 05, 2016
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan have joined China in a military alliance aimed at countering Islamist militancy, officials said.
Military leaders from the four countries gathered on August 4 in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang to announce the alliance, the Pakistani Army said.
Known as the Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism, the alliance is meant to bring together member states in areas of counterterrorism and intelligence, the army said.
Pakistan and Afghanistan, both already U.S. allies in the war on terror, have faced violence from Islamist militant groups including Al-Qaeda and the Taliban for more than a decade.
Tajikistan has been the victim of its own Islamist militants. China has been battling an ethnic minority group of Islamist militants in its Muslim-dominant, oil-rich region of Xinjiang near the country's border with Pakistan.
China is also working with Pakistan and the United States to broker so far fruitless peace talks to end a Taliban insurgency that has raged for 15 years in Afghanistan.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington welcomed the new alliance as a "positive" for the region.
"There's a lot of work to be done," he said.
Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
