Afghan intelligence authorities say they dismantled a Chinese spy cell linked to a terrorist group and 10 Chinese nationals were arrested, at least two of whom had ties to the Haqqani network, a Taliban-affiliated terrorist group. Authorities in Kabul have demanded an apology from Beijing.
RFI correspondent Sonia Ghezali in the region reports that Afghan intelligence believes one of the heads of the Chinese citizen spy network is Li YangYang (pronounced Li YangYang). Authorities found weapons, ammunition and explosives at his home in Kabul. Eight other Chinese nationals were arrested along with him by Afghan intelligence. He is said to have been in contact with the Haqqani terrorist network, a militant wing of the Taliban.
Afghan intelligence said the Chinese spy was seeking information about the possible presence of al-Qaida and Uighurs from Xinjiang in Afghanistan’s eastern provinces. In recent years, some radical Uighurs have joined al-Qaida’s East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) cell. Four years ago, the group declared a jihad against China to “liberate Xinjiang from the communist invaders. Until recently, it was said that some Uighurs may have joined the Islamic State branch in Afghanistan.
Sha Hung, a woman who runs a restaurant in Tharpur, Kabul, was also arrested, FX168 reported on Dec. 25. The Afghan National Intelligence Service retrieved explosives and evidence of related crimes from her residence,” said an Afghan counter-terrorism official. And that they (Chinese nationals) are all in continuous contact with the ‘Haqqani’ network.”
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s government has said it has demanded an apology from China or it will not release the Chinese nationals and that it will prosecute them.
Senior diplomats in Kabul say at least two of the 10 Chinese nationals are in contact with the Haqqani network, which is seen as doubling as a sword for the Taliban terrorist group.
President Ghani’s government has informed former Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh of the detentions and developments and authorized him to oversee the investigation, and he has been given access to Chinese nationals involved in sensitive areas. Saleh met with Chinese envoy to Kabul Wang Yu and explained to him the circumstances of the detention action taken by the Afghan government.
Saleh also stressed that if Beijing offered a formal apology for the Chinese “spies,” the Afghan government could consider pardoning the 10 Chinese nationals, and if Beijing did not apologize, Saleh made it clear to Wang Yu that criminal proceedings would continue.
The Hindustan Times quoted Kabul counter-terrorism officials as saying that detained Li Yangyang, who had been working for Chinese intelligence since July, was arrested by Afghanistan’s National Intelligence Service at his home near Kabul on Dec. 10.
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