DID Press: Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), also known as the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), has emerged as a serious threat to the security of South and Central Asian nations, according to a recent report by Diplomat.
The newspaper wrote that Abdul Haq al-Turkistani, the leader of the TIP currently based in Afghanistan, has predicted that “Chinese infidels will soon face the same fate as the infidels of Syria.”
Since 2012, Uyghur militants of the TIP have entered Syria through Turkey and Southeast Asia, where they fought alongside jihadist factions — particularly Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — in Idlib province. Over 3,500 Uyghur fighters were recently absorbed into the Syrian army, while more than 1,100 were killed during the conflict.
According to The Diplomat, despite the establishment of a provisional government under HTS control in Idlib, the TIP is now planning to return to China’s Xinjiang region and resume its separatist activities. Due to China’s strict border controls, however, the group is expected to shift its operations toward Afghanistan and Central Asia, with potential targets including Chinese regional infrastructure projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
In Afghanistan, the TIP maintains cooperation with several armed factions, including the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). The group is believed to operate camps and bases in Balkh, Badakhshan, Kunduz, Kabul, and Baghlan provinces.
UN reports estimate the TIP’s current strength in Afghanistan to be between 500 and 1,200 fighters, but that number could rise sharply if militants are redeployed from Syria.
Analysts warn that TIP’s combat experience in Syria has made it increasingly attractive to other regional jihadist networks and a growing danger to the stability of Central and South Asia.
The Diplomat concluded that redesignating the TIP as a “foreign terrorist organization” by the international community can play a critical role in restricting its movements and preventing the transfer of fighters from Syria to Afghanistan.