Overview

The East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) was founded by Hasan Mahsum in 1990 in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China. The Muslim separatist organization is dedicated to the establishment of an independent Turkic state, to be referred to as East Turkistan (also called Uighurstan), under ethnic Uighur power. The Uighurs are an ethnic minority group in China who share a similar culture with the Turkic people of regions in Central Asia. The Chinese government has credited the ETIM with high levels of violence in the past two decades as members continue to engage in an insurgency against their alleged oppressors.  

ETIM's affiliation with Al Qaeda is disputed by U.S. and Chinese officials, who believe there is a link, and experts, who question the association between the two groups. U.S. State Department officials indicate that ETIM militants fought alongside those in Al Qaeda in addition to receiving funding and training. Such information was obtained from the ethnic Uighur militants detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Chinese officials reported that ETIM was receiving weapons and money from Al Qaeda. Purportedly, ETIM militants traveled to Afghanistan to receive training and then returned to Xinjiang province where they established terrorist cells. However, experts on the movement, as well as China, question the legitimacy of such claims. Analysts indicate that China made several attempts in vain to use the Uighurs and their separatist movement to lobby the U.S. to reduce its pressure on China's human rights abuses.[1] The U.S. placed the group on its list of designated terrorist organizations in 2002.  

Structure

The Chinese government has claimed that the following are factions or subgroups of ETIM: Central Asian Uygur Hezbollah in Kazakstan, Eastern Turkistan International Committee, Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement in Afghanistan, Eastern Turkistan Islamic Resistance Movement in Turkey, Eastern Turkistan Youth League in Switzerland, the Turkistan Party in Pakistan, and the United Committee of Uygurs' Organizations located in Central Asia.[2] 

Arsenal

A propaganda video was released in April 2009 by a group called the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), who authorities believe may be ETIM members acting under a pseudonym. The video depicted militants training with remote-controlled explosives at a camp located in the Waziristan province of Pakistan.

Tactics

According to the U.S. State Department, ETIM members were deported from Kyrgyzstan to China for allegedly plotting attacks against the U.S. Embassy in the capital of the former country, as well as possible U.S. targets abroad. These types of attacks are seemingly uncommon as most ETIM attacks have focused on Chinese interests domestically and abroad. These incidents have included the bombing of various civilian locations, government and security force targets, and leading businesses and prominent officials. China claims that there have been more than 200 attacks between 1991 and 2000.

Gallery

References

1. Fletcher, H. (2008, July 31). The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from [1]
2. IHS Jane’s. (2010, March 5). Uighur separatist groups. Jane’s World Insurgency and Terrorism. Retrieved on June 22, 2010.
3. AFP. (n.d.). Retrieved from [2]
4. Retrieved from [3]
5. Retrieved from [4]
6. Retrieved from [5]
7. Retrieved from [6]
8. Saadi, S. (2011, August 9). "East Turkestan Islamic Movement Threatens Central Asia." Central Asia Online. Retrieved from [7]