Eurasia Press & News
Recent clashes between government forces and French-speaking fighters in northern Syria have rekindled concerns about military and social integration
Damascus, Syria – A group of Uyghur men laughed uproariously over a Syrian friend’s seemingly vain requests for a waiter to take better photos of them together, as they shared food at a mid-scale restaurant not far from the Syrian central bank in late October.
They seemed to provoke neither fear nor much curiosity in the Syrian families dining nearby. Six months ago, the reaction would likely have been different.
The issue of whether and how foreign fighters who helped bring down the former Assad regime will be integrated into Syrian society remains open, despite progress in quelling at least some concerns both domestically and internationally over the past eleven months.
When Syrian internal security forces surrounded a heavily fortified camp of a few dozen French-speaking foreign fighters near the Turkish border on 21 October, a social media maelstrom temporarily erupted.
While some commentators claimed that the government was “collaborating with France against the mujahedeen”, others noted that this particular faction’s controversial French-Senegalese leader, Omar Diaby, had previously been arrested by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and that there were numerous very serious accusations against him.
As clashes continued amid security forces’ attempt to enter the camp, one Syrian security source from Idlib told The New Arab that “some of them have created a state within a state”, referring to fighters from the French-speaking faction, Firqat al-Ghuraba.
“They are involved in illegal activities and have set up their own courts,” he said. “There have been kidnappings, and two of the French-speaking fighters targeted a vehicle of the general security forces.”
The Idlib native said that there is “absolutely no intention [by the Syrian government] to crack down on foreign fighters in general,” adding that “there are specific people that are wanted by the security forces and who will need to be held accountable” for their actions in court.
“That’s all. The area is surrounded, and inshallah, the issue will be solved soon.”
Sources claim that Syrian government forces used restraint to avoid harming any of the women and children in the camp. Other foreign fighters arrived to try to mediate. As of 29 October, talks were quietly continuing.
Integrating foreign fighters in the new Syria
A Western security expert who agreed to speak to The New Arab on condition that neither his name nor affiliation be used said it was unclear whether France had applied any direct pressure on the Syrian government to conduct the attempted raid.
However, he pointed out that the problems with the small group of armed French-speaking fighters led by Diaby came amid heightened concern about the group’s apparent continued attempts to recruit French citizens to travel to Syria to “join the mujahedeen” – despite the conflict being over.
France recently arrested two men who had been preparing to travel to Syria to join the ranks of Diaby’s group, the expert told The New Arab.
Other foreign fighters appeared to have been alarmed by the fighting, he added, and the case of hundreds of Uyghur fighters incorporated into the government’s official 84th Division stands in sharp contrast to recent events.
In June, Reuters quoted three Syrian defence officials as saying that the US had agreed to a plan under which “some 3,500 foreign fighters, mainly Uyghurs from China and neighbouring countries, would join a newly formed unit, the 84th Syrian army division, which would also include Syrians”.
In the case of the Uyghurs, the security expert told The New Arab that “their loyalty to (President Ahmed) Al-Sharaa is clear, and they have no political ambitions whatsoever,” or at least within Syria and for the foreseeable future.
“They’re foreigners,” he stressed, “and they know they are here as such.”
Many of the Uyghur fighters from China and Central Asia have their roots in the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), which was long based in Afghanistan and has historic links with Al-Qaeda. China has designated it a terrorist organisation and sees it as a threat, while others claim that many Uyghurs simply want a safe place to settle.
According to a 3 October brief by the US’s Council on Foreign Relations, the “Chinese government has reportedly detained more than a million Muslims in what the Chinese government calls ‘re-education camps’ since 2017, with an estimated half a million still currently held in prison or detention. Most of the people who have been detained are Uyghur”.
Though few of the Uyghur fighters in Syria have married Syrian wives, the security expert told The New Arab that many may nonetheless be granted Syrian citizenship due to their service to the country.
In contrast, he claimed, the French-speaking faction that has recently caused issues “did not take part in the fight to oust Assad” last November and December and continues to be viewed with suspicion not only by France but also by some within the government itself.
In any case, the 84th Division “will effectively replace the now-defunct 4th Division” and “is projected to grow to 30,000 fighters, with its headquarters based at the Naval Academy in Latakia Governorate and its deployment focused on northwestern Syria,” according to a Middle East Institute analysis published in June.
“While the most cited number of foreign fighters in the division is currently 3,500,” the Western security expert told The New Arab, “I would say that only about 900 among them are actually battle-tested.”
The expert said that the forces will have to undergo rehabilitation to ensure that they do not retain extremist views as part of their training, and that multiple conditions will be placed on them for any sort of promotion within the military.
“One of the issues, though, is that many of them are not entirely proficient in Arabic, and this creates problems. They tend to keep these fighters together – and their families as well – and out of the spotlight,” he said. “But by doing this, they create barriers to their learning the language and integrating.”
He also noted that the 84th Division was given responsibility for the western reaches of Idlib and the Latakia mountains, “away from the main centres of control”.
Other observers note that this decision was likely based largely on the fact that many of the foreign fighters incorporated into the division have experience in mountain combat, including in other countries, and that there are still concerns about possible insurgencies among Assad loyalists, who previously had their strongholds in the coastal area.
Sharing bread and battles
In the spring of 2025, The New Arab spoke to several young men from Idlib who had fought in their home province and elsewhere in the country alongside foreign fighters.
None of these young men had ever been outside Syria and or seen Damascus prior to Assad’s ouster in late 2024. Now, it has become normal for them to post photos on social media of themselves smoking shisha and against a backdrop of fireworks and celebrations.
Several, including one in HTS’s elite Red Bands brigade – trained to carry out suicide missions and infiltration – claimed during a discussion over breakfast in Idlib this past spring that the Uyghurs in particular had served as examples of bravery while also being “humble” and “much calmer in battle” than Syrians.
Another said that, after months of fighting alongside the “Chinese fighters”, he could no longer eat Syrian food without spices and that he would frequently make ramen with extra spices – rendering it inedible for others in his family, as they jokingly called him “the Chinese guy”.
A few of the young men proudly whipped out their phones and scrolled through photos of them and foreign fighters together in hard conditions, in caves and mountainous areas and in training camps, sharing laughter and food.
Some claimed that those who had fought for the country had “more of a right to be called Syrians than those sitting in Europe and living easy lives” for the past decade or more.
Following the outbreak of violence as part of the attempted raid on the Firqat al-Ghuraba camp in late October, one young fighter from Idlib who had fought alongside members of the TIP during the years of the war reacted protectively of them, and told The New Arab that the Uyghurs “are very, very afraid of the Chinese intelligence services”, and for that reason they keep to themselves and do not want to meet anyone new.
If they do not, however, many Syrians may continue to distrust their intentions.
Meanwhile, one member of the security forces who had been in the area of the French-speaking fighters’ camp on 27 October told The New Arab that the surrounding area was under tight security and that there was a “media blackout” on the talks.
“The situation seems under control and getting better, but no one really knows anything for certain,” he said.
