China says killing of Islamic State leader is progress, much work remains

FILE PHOTO: Late Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is seen in an undated picture released by the U.S. Department of Defense in Washington, U.S. October 30, 2019. U.S. Department of Defense/Handout via REUTERS

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States' killing of Islamic State's leader is important progress, but the world should not rest on its laurels in the fight against terrorism, China's special envoy to the Middle East said on Friday.

China has long worried about ethnic Uighurs from China's far heavily Muslim western region of Xinjiang who have travelled clandestinely to Syria and Iraq to fight with Islamist groups there. Islamic State has killed at least one Chinese hostage and militant groups have issued statements threatening to attack China.