03 March 2017

News Story: Bloody Islamic State video puts China in cross-hairs

By Benjamin CARLSON

Islamic State militants from China's Uighur ethnic minority have vowed to return home and "shed blood like rivers", according to a jihadist-tracking firm, in what experts said marked the first IS threat against Chinese targets.

The threat came in a half-hour video released Monday by a division of the Islamic State in western Iraq and featuring militants from China's Uighur ethnic group, said the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which analysed the footage.

China has for years blamed exiled Uighur "separatists" for a series of violent attacks in its western Xinjiang region -- the Uighur homeland -- and warned of the potential for militants to link up with global jihadist groups.

In the video, a Uighur fighter issued the threat against China just before executing an alleged informant.

"Oh, you Chinese who do not understand what people say! We are the soldiers of the Caliphate, and we will come to you to clarify to you with the tongues of our weapons, to shed blood like rivers and avenging the oppressed," according to SITE's translation.

A traditionally Muslim group, many Uighurs complain of cultural and religious repression and discrimination by China.

Read the full story at SpaceWar