Who they are

ETIM is a separatist, fundamentalist, terrorist organization. They are fighting against the Chinese authorities for the independence of Xinjiang autonomous region of china which is a predominantly ethnic Uyghur territory. They are Muslims and want their own separate state. Due to their links with other terrorist organization like Afghan Taliban, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), AL-Qaeda etc they are also conducting terrorist attacks in other parts of the world. Their bases are in the North Waziristan Agency of Pakistan and Afghanistan[23].

History

The ethnic Uyghur in the Xinjiang autonomous region of china are demanding independence from china since 1949. There have been reports of Uyghur uprising and its skirmishes with Chinese authorities from early 1990s. In 1996 china began to tighten its crack down on Islamists and separatists elements in Xinjiang. The arrests of notables and religious scholar further exacerbated the situation in the region and riots broke out. Among the arrested notables was Hasan Mehsum who founded the ETIM later. After his release he went to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and turkey in order to seek support for organizing a militant organization against china. He was failed to get any kind of support from these countries as well as the Uyghur Diaspora in other countries also did not responded to his call. He went to Afghanistan where he met Osama bin Laden and Afghan Taliban, they insured him their support and in 1997-98 ETIM was founded during Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Mehsum shifted it’s headquarter to Kabul. After 9/11 they ran into Pakistani territory and started operating from Waziristan area of Pakistan. Over the period of time many of its militants have been killed in counter terrorism operation in Pakistan and Afghanistan by Pakistani security forces and ISAF[24]. Chinese authorities’ accuses ETIM of hundreds of attacks in china and outside. China is blaming ETIM for bombing of buses, markets, civilians, and government institutions as well as assassinating Muslim leaders and local officials etc. ETIM are accused of assassinating Nighmet Bosakof the head of Uyghur youth Alliance in Kyrgyzstan in 2000, the bombing of Chinese embassy in turkey in the late 1990.

In 2002 ETIM workers were deported from Kyrgyzstan to china in suspicion of planning to attack the US embassy there. During 2008 Olympics they were creating panics through video massages and threatening the Chinese. They claimed responsibility for two bus bombs in Kunming, Yunnan province. During 2011 they targeted the government officials in Xinjiang and a series of bomb blasts and knife attacks killed more than a dozen people and injured up to fifty in Kashgar. Tiananmen Square car bomb attack in 2013 was the first time china had directly blamed the ETIM for terrorist attack and it was considered as the most pressing security threat for china. The Uyghur activists denied their involvement in the attack.[25]

Organization’s Message

The organization massage is clear they want independence from china and a separate state for Uyghur ethnic majority in Xinjiang region of china[26].

Target Audience

The target audience for ETIM is ethnic Uyghur and Uyghur Diaspora in central Asian countries.

Tools

Not known.

Splinter groups

Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP)

Annexure

Islamic party of Turkistan

Hizbul Islam Li-Turkistan (Islamic Party of Turkistan or Turkistan Islamic Movement) came to the surface in Xinjiang in 1940, it carried out a number of successful separatists uprising from the 1940s through 1952.  In the Nationalist Chinese parliament of China Isa Yusuf was the representative of East Turkistan. He was trying to defend the region and its people from Soviets as well as Chinese domination. In 1947 He became the secretary general of the second East Turkistan republic. He became the Secretary General of the second East Turkistan Republic, representing his people in their freedom. Isa Yusuf was successful in escaping the Chinese crack down on leaders of East Turkistan. In 1949 he managed to go to India by foot with his family and 2000 other followers.[27]

Uyghur/Uighur

Uyghur or Uyghur also pronounced as WEE-guhrs, have a population around 10 million in china also a large number of its Diaspora can also be found in the neighboring central Asian republics, in china they are mostly found in Xinjiang, which is now the autonomous region of china. Ethnically they are Turkic and follow Sufi Islam. Xinjiang region became a province in 1884. The Uyghur achieved their statehood two times in history after the demise of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)—once from 1931 to 1934, and again from 1944 to 1949. After the communists takeover of china they annexed the region into their sphere of influence. They named Xinxiang as the autonomous region of china, many of the Chinese objected to this decision of forced assimilation. The Uyghur lack unity in their say, as some of them prefers Chinese control other went their separate state while some want changes in the system only. There are many Uyghur organizations who are working for separation from china but all of them are not violent. The constant tension between the Han Chinese and the Uyghur often leads to riots and violence among these ethnic units.[28]

Afghan Taliban

They were one of the militant groups composed of religious leaders and their students from madrassas of Afghan civil War after 1989, who established Islamic republic of Afghanistan in 1994 – 96 it put an end to the lengthy civil war between different factions of Afghanistan. Taliban are Led by Mullah Omar. Afghan Taliban Promotes Islam as a moral, stable and orderly alternative to civil war, ethnic divisions, and warring tribal chiefs. They followed strict, literal, and conservative interpretations of Islam and Sunni Islamic public standards, including the implementation of hudud punishments. They are influenced primarily by Wahhabi teachers and Pashtun tribal traditions. The regime was only recognized by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. The international community especially human rights organizations were very critical of the laws and the governance system in Afghanistan. The same Afghan Taliban provided the safe havens to Al-Qaeda and its chief Osama bin Laden to run training camps for international terrorism.[29]

Al-Qaeda

Al Qaeda is an international terrorist network founded by Osama Bin Laden in 1988. Al Qaeda helped in recruiting, financing and training thousands of fighters from different parts of the world to be part of an Afghan resistance to defeat the Soviet Union. Al Qaeda’s goal is to establish Islamic Caliphate throughout the world by working with Islamic extremist groups to overthrow regimes they consider to be non Islamic. Al Qaeda’s activities include bombing, assassination, hijacking, kidnapping and suicide attacks. Al Qaeda is responsible for the attacks on the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 1998 and also the hijacking attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.[30]

Islamic movement of Afghanistan

IMU is a terrorist organization, operating in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia. They are famous for drug trafficking in Central Asia and also responsible for an assassination attempt on Uzbek President Karimov in 1999. Its bases are in the Waziristan region of Pakistan, in Afghanistan and Central Asian states. The group has been involved in terrorist attacks in Pakistan. They have targeted some high value targets in Pakistan. Attacks included airport bombings in Peshawar and Karachi in 2012 and 2014.  The IMU finances terrorist activities from drug trafficking and also receives donations from Al Qaeda.[31]

Deobandi

Deobandi’s are a significant group of Muslims present in the sub continent who adhere to the Sunni sect and follow the ideology of Imam Abu Hanifa. The School of thought is named after the University of Deoband Dar ul Aloom in India. They believe in safeguarding the teachings of Islam, while spreading the religion through preaching.[32]

Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP)

The Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) was formed in 2006 by Uighurs that settled in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 1990. It is a prominent group operating under the umbrella of East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). The objectives of East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) are Islamist and Nationalist. Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) is active on internet and promote jihad by Uighurs in Xinjiang through video messages.[33]