Weapons Used by the Turkistan Islamic Party's Khurasan Wing
Weapons Used by the Turkistan Islamic Party's Khurasan Wing
The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) is a militant Islamist organization with roots in the pan-Turkism movement of the 1990s, which still seeks to unite ethnic Uyghurs and establish a caliphate in China’s Xinjiang Province. The group’s fighters took part in the Syrian Civil War, fighting alongside Al-Qaeda-linked units such as Al-Nusra Front, and they have been quite active in Afghanistan. Within Afghanistan, they enjoy close relations with the Taliban, who reclaimed control over most of the country in 2021.
In the videos and photos that the TIP released from Afghanistan recently, we can see that their fighters generally use 5.56x45mm and 7.62x39mm caliber weapons, which are common in the region. Many of the TIP’s weapons and equipment are the same as those used by the former Afghan National Army (ANA). Therefore, it can be assumed that much of this equipment was seized from the ANA, or perhaps transferred to the TIP after being captured by the Taliban, or even purchased from the black market. Interestingly, it seems that the TIP was using these weapons even before the Taliban re-took power in 2021.
