ISLAMABAD: Tajikistan’s security service and the Chinese Embassy inDushanbe confirmed on Monday that five Chinese nationals were killed andfive others wounded in a string of deadly attacks launched from Afghanterritory over the pas all days. The coordinated assaults, which targetedChinese engineering teams working on infrastructure projects inTajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan region near the Afghan border, have sentshockwaves through Beijing and exposed the Taliban regime’s inability orunwillingness to rein in militant groups operating from its soil.
According to official statements, the attacks began last Tuesday whengunmen opened fire on a convoy carrying Chinese technicians, killing threeon the spot. Two more Chinese workers died in separate ambushes on Thursdayand Saturday. Tajik border troops repelled several infiltration attempts,but the attackers managed to retreat across the poorly guarded Wakhancorridor into Afghanistan each time. Sources in Dushanbe claim theassailants belong to Jamaat Ansarullah, a Tajik militant outfit that swearsallegiance to the Taliban and has been given sanctuary inside Afghanistansince the 2021 takeover.
China’s Embassy issued an unusually sharp statement condemning the“barbaric terrorist acts” and demanding that both Tajikistan and theTaliban authorities “immediately hunt down and eliminate the perpetrators.”Beijing warned that it will “take all necessary measures” to protect itscitizens and investments in Central Asia, language widely interpreted as athreat of direct retaliation if Kabul continues to harbour anti-Chinesemilitants.
The killings mark the first time Chinese nationals have been deliberatelytargeted in Tajikistan since Beijing began pouring billions into regionalinfrastructure under the Belt and Road banner. Analysts say the attacks arealmost certainly linked to growing anger among Central Asian jihadistnetworks over China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims and its expandingsecurity footprint across the region.
The Taliban’s Interior Ministry in Kabul issued a vague denial, claiming it“respects good neighbourly relations” and is investigating the incidents.However, diplomatic sources say Beijing has already delivered a furiousdemarche to the Taliban representative in Doha, warning that continued safehaven for groups attacking Chinese interests will have “severeconsequences.”
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The incident threatens to unravel China’s carefully cultivated relationshipwith the Taliban, which rested heavily on assurances that Afghanistan wouldnever again be used as a launchpad against Chinese targets. With five freshgraves now bearing witness to those broken promises, Beijing appears in nomood for diplomacy.
Source:www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/five-chinese-nationals-killed-tajikistan-attacks-launched-afghanistan-2025-11-30/”>https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/five-chinese-nationals-killed-tajikistan-attacks-launched-afghanistan-2025-11-30/
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