Kyrgyzstan Launches Probe Into Alleged Threat By Uyghur Separatists

BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz authorities have launched an investigation into a death threat allegedly sent by Uyghur separatists in China's northwestern province of Xinjiang.

Deputy Prime Minister Tokon Mamytov told RFE/RL on February 12 that several media outlets in the country had received an email on February 1.

The message -- written in Russian and English -- said that Kyrgyz border guards would be attacked soon for the killing of 11 Uyghurs earlier this year.

The message was signed with an acronym (ETIM) for the separatist East Turkestan Islamic Movement.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the message was sent from the town of Hotan (Hetian) in Xinjiang.

In late January, a group of men illegally entered Kyrgyz territory from Xinjiang and killed a Kyrgyz forest ranger after he shot two of the intruders.

Kyrgyz border guards killed the remaining nine men.