IS militia vows to ‘shed blood like rivers’

Beijing – Islamic State (IS) 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’s believed to be the first IS threat against Chinese targets.

The threat came in a half-hour video released on Monday by a division of the IS 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 avenge the oppressed,” according to SITE’s translation.

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

The video was released the same day that China held the latest in a series of mass rallies of military police in Xinjiang, meant to indicate Chinese resolve in crushing security threats. –