Islamabad, Pakistan: The Chief of Pakistan Army General Raheel Sharif has indicated elimination of East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) from the region, reports Dispatch News Desk (DND) news agency.
While addressing at Chinese Army’s 88th Anniversary ceremony held here on Friday, General Raheel Sharif said that Pakistan and Chinese army would squeeze space for state and non-state actors who wish to play with security of the region.
“Your enemy is our enemy and eliminating ETIM is a manifestation. Our cooperation for regional stability will squeeze space for States and non-state actors. We work together for a stable Afghanistan. We will defeat nefarious designs of forces detrimental to us”, added General Sharif.
It may be mentioned that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), also known as the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), (and other names) is an Islamic terrorist and separatist organization founded by Uyghur militants in western China. Its stated goals are the independence of East Turkestan from China. According to the Chinese government, it is a violent separatist movement and is often responsible for terrorist attacks in Xinjiang. ETIM had presence in tribal areas of Pakistan in past before Pakistan Army started Operation Zerb-e-Azb in last June.
Gen Raheel Sharif talked about China Pakistan Economic Corridor and said that it would benefit entire region and he hoped that entire world looks at CPEC through same lens.
“I REITERATE OUR FIRM RESOLVE THAT ANY ATTEMPT TO OBSTRUCT OR IMPEDE THIS PROJECT WILL BE THWARTED AT ALL COSTS”, WARNED CHIEF OF PAKISTAN ARMY.
China celebrates Army day on every August 1 and receptions are usually held on the evening of July 31. In August 1927, armed forces led by the Communist Party of China held an uprising against warlords. The first day of August was later designated as the PLA’s founding day.
The People’s Liberation Army was founded on 1 August 1927 during the Nanchang Uprising when troops of the Kuomintang (KMT) rebelled under the leadership of Zhu De, He Long, Ye Jianying and Zhou Enlai shortly after the end of the first Kuomintang–Communist alliance. Between 1934 and 1935, the Red Army survived several campaigns led against it by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek and engaged in the Long March.
PLA consists of four professional service branches: the People’s Liberation Army Ground Force, the People’s Liberation Army Navy, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force and the Second Artillery Corps. The PLA is the world’s largest military force, with strength of approximately 2,285,000 personnel.
