The Taliban’s Rise Means An Increase of Terrorism Worldwide

By Olivier Guitta

While the U.S. is leaving in a hurry
Afghanistan after 20 years, the countries possibly the most concerned by the
consequences of this move happen to be America’s main enemies: namely China,
Russia, and Iran. Indeed, while the threat of terrorism towards the West is
significantly increasing, the same could be said about the three fore-mentioned
countries.

The Taliban has just claimed it
controls 85% of Afghanistan after seizing key border crossings with Iran and
Turkmenistan along with the Wakhan district that borders China. A big red flag
for Beijing that is worried that the Taliban’s rise to power would
significantly increase the risk of terrorism and religious extremism.
Afghanistan could once again become the biggest source of risks to China’s far
west, in particular the restive Xinjiang province. To mitigate that risk, China
is in talks to build a military base in Afghanistan's remote Wakhan Corridor,
where witnesses have reported seeing Chinese and Afghan troops on joint
patrols. Because of the Taliban’s historical connections with the Uighur terror
groups affiliated with al-Qaeda, Beijing is logically concerned especially
about the revival of the fundamentalist East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM),
an ethnic Uighur terror group active in Afghanistan, that could carry out
attacks in China’s Xinjiang. Interestingly the Taliban has been quick to go on
a charm offensive with China, underlining that it would no longer allow China’s
Uighur separati...