Taliban Delegation Travels To China For Border Security Talks
A Taliban delegation has travelled to China to attend a meeting on migration management and cross-border cooperation, the group said Sunday.
Abdullah Farooqi, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Border Police, said the talks would focus on preventing border threats and facilitating movement across frontiers. He added that the delegation is led by Mawlawi Abdul Manan Hassan, the deputy chief of the Taliban Border Police.
Border security remains a pressing concern for Afghanistan’s neighbours under Taliban rule. China has repeatedly voiced unease about instability along its frontier.
During a 19 August visit to Kabul, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed drug trafficking and border security with Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, including the need for “coordination of border forces.”
Yi also urged the Taliban prime minister to take Beijing’s security concerns seriously, particularly the presence of Uyghur militants in Afghanistan.
China has long expressed deep concern over the activities of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which international reports say operates freely in Afghanistan and maintains close ties with the Taliban.
