"DUSHANBE -- Three Chinese citizens working for a gold-extraction company in southern Tajikistan have been killed in an attack -- the second in a year -- that Tajik authorities say was carried out from across the border with Afghanistan. Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on November 27 that the assault targeted a compound belonging to Shohin SM, a private gold-mining company operating in the Shamsiddin Shohin district along the Tajik-Afghan frontier."
"Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, Dushanbe and Kabul have accused each other of harboring armed groups. Tajikistan was the only neighboring country to publicly oppose the Taliban's return to power, calling the militant group a threat to regional stability. In particular, Dushanbe has long expressed concern about factions affiliated with the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP), Central Asian extremist networks, and armed criminal gangs hiding in Afghan territory."
"In November last year, Tajik authorities said armed groups carried out an attack in the same sector, killing one Chinese citizen and injuring five others, including four Chinese nationals and one Tajik man. The incident also comes amid growing anti-Chinese sentiment in several parts of Central Asia, a strategic and energy-rich region where China has become a key economic and political player."
An attack on a gold-mining compound in southern Tajikistan killed three Chinese employees of Shohin SM. The compound is in the Shamsiddin Shohin district along the Tajik-Afghan border. Attackers used firearms and a drone with an explosive device to strike the workers' facility. This is the second cross-border incident in a year; a November attack in the same sector killed one Chinese national and injured five others. Since the Taliban's 2021 takeover, Tajikistan and Afghanistan have accused each other of harboring armed groups. Tajikistan has expressed concern about ISKP factions, regional extremist networks, and criminal gangs and condemned the incursion.
Read at RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
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