Syria: An exclusive look at the integration of Uyghur fighters in armed forces

AI Summary

An AFP report examines Uyghur fighters who remained in Syria after foreign combatants helped topple Bashar al-Assad. France 24 journalist Wassim Nasr gained access to fighters and reports on their integration into the armed forces and lives in the country.

Several factions of foreign fighters are credited with helping topple Syria's Bashar al-Assad nearly two years ago - among them, the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim, Turkic ethnic minority spread across Central Asia - notably in China's Xinjiang region. They eventually became amongst the largest contingents of foreign fighters in Syria, though those who have stayed and built lives there are notoriously secretive. However, France 24's Wassim Nasr was recently in Syria and had exclusive access to Uyghur fighters there.