An increasing number of militants of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement fighting for separation of China’s Muslim majority Xinjiang province were “fleeing to Pakistan and settling down there for future plots,” a state-run newspaper reported on Monday.
“According to latest reports, the ETIM has been in close collaboration with the Taliban and Osama bin Laden,” the China Daily said in its lead story on the first anniversary of the bloody riots in Xinjiang capital Urumqi in which an estimated 200 people were killed.
It said an ETIM leader is also reported to be hiding in Pakistan and there are also reports of a “Chinese battalion” made up of about 320 ETIM members in the Taliban forces. It said a number of ETIM fighters were “fleeing to Pakistan and settling down there for future plots”.
“It is not hard for them (ETIM members) to hide in Pakistan. They have similar religious beliefs, appearances and languages as the locals,” the report said. The report about ETIM militants settling down in Pakistan came a day before the visit of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.