Jihad

[Zebra]

Considering the month it was a surprisingly warm and sunny day as Yusup looked out of the window of the rented apartment he and his fellow fighters were in. In a way he felt it was a shame to ruin such a beautiful day but their cause called for strong action and was way more important. For centuries their people had been oppressed by one Chinese authority or another. Whether it was the Ming, the Qing, the first Republic, the Communists and now the new Republic, none would let Turkistan gain its freedom. Today they were going to make a stand and send a message to both Beijing and the world that the Uyghurs would no longer be oppressed.

"Everyone ready?"

Yusup looked over the men in the room. Four were dressed in Burqas to make it easier to hide weapons while one hid a bomb vest underneath it as well in case things when entirely wrong. For weeks they had monitored the Chinese embassy in Paris and they were pretty confident about its security. Back in China they would never be able to pull off a terrorist attack with all the security in place but diplomatic facilities in other countries were luckily much less protected.

As all men responded affirmatively, they would depart the apartment and head outside where a white van was waiting. Yusup would get behind the wheel while the rest went in the back to avoid suspicion by French police patrolling the diplomatic areas. The goal was to focus all the damage on the Chinese and not hurt French civilians in the process to maximize international support. As the van stopped at a parking lot near the embassy the eight men would get out individually over a timespan of 30 minutes and enter the embassy with their Chinese passports as to not raise immediate suspicion.

Once everyone was in place the men in Burqas would lift them to reveal their weapons and shoot the guards immediately before handing weapons to the four other men. At that time Yusup walked to the front desk, AK-47 in hand. "This embassy is now under occupation of the Turkic Islamic Party. Any attempt to resist will be met by force." He spoke confidently as two other men barricaded the entrance and three others would walk through the embassy to force all personnel, both the Chinese diplomats and the French embassy workers, into a central room where they would be easy to guard.

As this was happening a video would be published on YouTube

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"Greetings people of the world,

Today I come with a sad message, for centuries the Chinese states have oppressed my people. The Ming and Qing subjugated and ethnic cleansed us, the first Republic continued the policies from the Qing and under the Communists we suffered the most of all. Even now this new republic has come with major promises of federalism but our people are still denied access to mosques in peace, our lands are colonized by Han Chinese and all valuable resources are in the hands of the colonists. That is why today the Turkistan Islamist Party officially declares the independence of the Islamic Republic of Turkistan. We have occupied the Chinese embassy in Paris and demand the following.

1. The immediate release of all Uyghur prisoners.​
2. The recognition of independence of the Islamic Republic of Turkistan by the Republic of China and the world.​
3. Reparations for the centuries of oppression and murder.​

President Ming has 24 hours to commence the process of granting these demands. If no significant movement is made towards this goal we will execute a hostage, starting with the Ambassador.

To the French state, our fight is not with you. If you leave us alone your citizens will be save. If you interfere your citizens will be executed too. If you try to force your way into the embassy we have enough explosives to destroy the entire building and kill everyone inside"

Alexander

 

[Alexander]

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After bystanders outside the embassy building reported hearing shots being fired from inside the embassy the response was an immediate one even before the video had been seen by French authorities. The Paris Police Prefecture was the first to act deploying five cars and 10 officers to the embassy building as well as blocking off nearby streets. The Police Prefect would contact the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs to coordinate with the embassy after multiple attempts to contact it by phone failed. Seeing as these were technically Chinese territory the police couldn't act without permission of the Ambassador.

When the video did become widely known by the government, the response reached a whole new level. At this stage the GIGN would be involved and ordered to prepare entering the embassy complex by force if that is what was needed in the end. The Paris Police Prefecture would then send additional officers and begin evacuating the surrounding buildings to prevent any potential of an explosion affecting people in those buildings. As much as the additional force was impressive, they still needed permission from Beijing to react. Even though the concern for French civilians involved was significantly high. But even without them, France was committed to its obligations under international law to protect foreign embassies and diplomatic personnel. The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs would now direct its efforts by sending a message directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China to obtain permission for French authorities to enter the embassy.

Until they had that permission, however, there was one more step the French could take. An expert negotiator from the Paris Police Prefecture was sent to the command centre just outside the street in front of the embassy building. There he would attempt to contact the terrorists by calling the embassy's front desk.

If answered he would introduce himself. "Good morning, I am Marceau Guillory from the Paris Police Prefecture. I would like to discuss the best way we can resolve this issue with everyone leaving the embassy alive". However as much as they might try, the bulk of the demands were entirely in the hands of the Chinese state and even if they weren't, France had a strict policy of not negotiating with terrorists.

Zebra