Afghan officials arrest 10 'spies' from Chinese intelligence network with Taliban contacts

Afghanistan forces have unveiled the Chinese intelligence network operating in the nation for at least half a year under which the Chinese spies even maintained contacts with the Haqqani network and Afghan Taliban. As per reports, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) officials in mid-December had carried a major operation in Kabul that has now resulted in the detention of nearly 10 Chinese intelligence agents. 

In an opinion piece for Pajhwok Afghan News, Habiba Ashna, an activist lambasted the Chinese government for talking a lot about peace in Afghanistan but also backing Pakistan military who is also waging a multi-year war against Afghans using the Taliban. She even wrote that Kabul has made it evident that ‘it will no longer tolerate’ spies from China.

"Now, Kabul has made it clear to Beijing that it will no longer tolerate Chinese spies cooperating with Pakistani agents and militants of the Haqqani network on its soil," she wrote.

As per reports, the Afghan security officials said that the NDS is about eliminating "a complex and ramified network of agents” that was functional for several months in the interests of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in a bid to promote "Beijing's geopolitical influence in the region." Among the detained ‘spies’ in Afghanistan is  Li Yanyang who according to the intelligence officials began actively working in the nation in July and became an essential element of the espionage network.

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Drugs, weapons recovered from Chinese ‘spies’

Li was reportedly detained on December 10 at his Kabul office and Afghan officials reportedly even found weapons, ammunition and explosives from his possession. Further, the NDS also arrested Chinese agent Sha Hong and recovered drugs and explosives during a search at his residence. In addition to Li and Sha who were the ‘key players’, the Afghan officials detained seven other intelligence agents. Out of the total 10 detained, one was later found to be a Thai citizen. 

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As per the leaks released to the Afghan media cited by ANI, the detained agents from China were in contact with some of the warlords of the Haqqani terrorist network with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agents acting as the intermediaries between the "Li network" and the "Haqqani network". As per reports, these Chinese ‘spies’ met regularly including the field commanders of various Taliban factions and even recruited sources for information among the insurgent groups including Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists.

(With inputs from ANI)

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