Taliban uses Chinese weapons. Great Britain protests

Representatives of Great Britain expressed their concern to the PRC leadership in that Chinese -made weapons are used by Taliban against British soldiers in Afghanistan, BBC Corporation reports.

The Chinese leadership denies involvement in illegal supplies of weapons. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs again repeated the statement that its official representative of Qin Gan made in July. China, he assured, exports the weapon "in strict accordance with the laws and international obligations."

The Taliban group not so long ago reported that she received much more of the latest weapons at her disposal. The source of supplies of Taliba was not called. However, the Afghan authorities privately confirmed the BBC that in the hands of the Taliban there are the latest weapons from China: air -air missiles, mines, reactive shells and components for the manufacture of landmines. According to one of the Afghan officials, serial numbers are in most cases deleted, so it is impossible to accurately confirm the origin of the weapon.

For several decades, South Afghanistan has been flooded with Chinese weapons - the cheapest in the market. In the past, the Taliban received him through the special services of Pakistan or directly purchased from smugglers. However, in recent years, Washington increased pressure on the Pakistani President Musharraf, forcing him to more actively fight against al-Qaeda and Taliban. As a result, the relations of the Pakistani army with militants in tribal areas near the Afghan border were significantly deteriorated. Accordingly, Pakistan is in no way interested in armating the Taliban.

It is unprofitable to China. In recent years, Chinese workers have repeatedly become victims of militants in Pakistan. The Islamists are unhappy with the struggle that China, together with Pakistan, leads against the leaders of Uyghurs - the Muslim people who live in the Xinjiang -Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Many observers indicate that weapons may not come from Pakistan, but from Iran. The Afghan government in private has long recognized that the Iranian special services are actively operating in the southern regions of the country. This information is anxious in the United States, because it is believed that Tehran seeks to get the opportunity to hit the American troops in case of trying to destroy the Iranian nuclear infrastructure. And if not so long ago the Shiite Iran and the Sunni Taliban were enemies, then in recent years the situation has changed. Having chosen the common enemy of the United States, they, according to the American command, cooperate more and more actively.

The situation is complicated by the ambiguous position of the Chinese side. Recently, according to BBC, a certain unnamed official from the United States said that China is selling weapons to Iran, and he gives it to the rebels in Afghanistan and Iraq. Although the Afghan government is inclined to consider China to be a friendly state, the source of the corporation in the country's government believes that China is concerned about the presence of American forces in the region.

Last week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and recently appointed Asian minister, Lord Mallock Braun, told reporters: "In order to succeed in today's world, it is necessary to cooperate with China." Thus, in the near future, the PRC will have to demonstrate cooperation by starting a more stringent struggle with the smuggling of weapons in Afghanistan.