Catherine Putz
China’s embassy in Tajikistan has urged Chinese businesses and workers to evacuate the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border areas where several Chinese citizens were killed in what Tajik authorities say were a pair of cross-border attacks in late November.
Three Chinese citizens were killed in an attack on November 26. According to Tajikistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the attack originated in Afghanistan and targeted a Shohin SM compound in the Shamsiddin Shohin district in Khatlon Region along the Afghan-Tajik border. Shohin SM is a private gold-mining company, one of many Chinese enterprises operating in Tajikistan.
The attack was carried out, the ministry said, “using firearms and a drone equipped with a missile.” The ministry blamed “criminal groups” located in Afghanistan, without naming any specific group.
Other reports, such as Reuters, referred to drones dropping grenades.
In Afghanistan, Taliban authorities condemned the attack. Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takal said that an initial assessment initiated that “this incident involves elements that are trying to create chaos, instability, and distrust between countries in the region,” according to the Associated Press.
No comments:
Post a Comment