Chinese Islamic State fighter captured in Iraq
China is the latest member of a club that includes dozens of countries that have had their citizens fight on behalf of the Islamic State as it seeks to establish an Islamic Caliphate.
The New York Times reports that the Iraqi Army has released an image that they claim shows an IS fighter of Chinese origin. The Times described the man in the photo by saying it showed: "A muscular, Asian-looking man with a severely bruised and bloodied face. The man is wearing an olive-green camouflage T-shirt, pants, black gloves and an armband with white Arabic lettering on a black background."
A second photograph showed the same man curled up on the ground. The Times notes that the leaders of the Islamic State and a Chinese diplomat have each said that Chinese fighters were present in the ranks of the Islamic State.
While it is likely the man in the photos is indeed Chinese, as the Islamic State has a large amount of international fighters in its ranks, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense did provide concrete evidence to back their claim. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has also refused to comment on the photos, according to the Times.
The presence of a Chinese citizen among the fighters of the Islamic State is sure to worry Beijing, which is coping with its own Islamist resistance in the western province of Xinjiang. There have been scattered bombings and mass stabbings throughout China as the Islamic Uighur minority has lashed out against the state for its economic and social policies in China's west.
The Times reports that when the Chinese diplomat mentioned Chinese fighters in the Middle East, he also said that they were Uighur. Much like the United States and Europe, China fears that citizens who fight in Syria and Iraq may one day return home and carry out domestic terrorist attacks.
