Thousands of Uyghur foreign fighters played a crucial role in opposing Syria's Assad regime. Their involvement and reasons for fleeing China to fight in Syria are now a concern for Beijing.

Thousands of Uyghurs became key fighters against Syria's Assad regime. For the first time, they agreed to be interviewed. NPR spent weeks with some of them to understand why they fled China for Syria. <img alt="A senior Uyghur militant stands in an olive grove in northern Syria, where Uyghur commanders say their fighters began an ultimately successful assault on Syrian regime forces in November 2024." src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6000x4000+0+0/resize/6000x400...