An ISIS media outlet released a 30 minute video on February 27 that for the first time threatens China with attacks. Along with executions, the video included scenes that purported to show the daily life of its Chinese Muslim fighters.
Uighurs are a Turkic ethnic group who live mostly in China’s western Xinjiang province. They practice Islam, and are often targeted by the Chinese government for religious and security reasons. Human Rights Watch previously reported on government oppression of the sect, including a recent campaign to confiscate Uighur passports. On February 27 the Chinese army held “anti-terror” rallies in the heart of Xinjiang, assembling over 10,000 troops in the region’s capital.
In one scene, a militant addresses the camera before carrying out an execution, saying “you Chinese people who don’t understand the language of the people, we the soldiers of the Caliphate will come to you to teach you the language of weapons, to spill rivers of blood as revenge against the oppressors.” The man then turns to the victim, who is wearing an orange jumpsuit and is hanging upside down from the ceiling, and slits his throat while a young boy looks on from the side.
