In September 2026, the French journalist Wassim Nasr met senior Uyghur military personnel in Syria, gaining access to report on their place in the country’s armed forces. Nasr, who has spent more than 10 years following jihadist group dynamics and worked for France 24, documented the integration of the fighters he met.
The 84th Division is commanded by Brigadier General Abdul Aziz Dawood Khodabardi, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Turkistani. It is made up predominantly of Uyghurs, a Muslim minority from western Chinese provinces, who have been incorporated into the Syrian Armed Forces.
The division is the latest outcome of a movement that began during Syria’s long civil war, which drew tens of thousands of people from the EU, the UK, Australia, North Africa and Russian-speaking, Uyghur, Turkic and other ethno-linguistic communities to fight for rebel groups, terrorist organisations or other armed factions.
Uyghurs began crossing the Turkish border into northern Syria in 2012. Many had encountered legal difficulties in Türkiye and feared being returned to China.
The Turkistan Islamic Party, a militant organisation seeking to establish Islamic rule in Xinjiang, became their principal organisational vehicle during the war. The East Turkestan Islamic Movement was founded in the 1990s.
Uyghur communities took root in northern Syria, especially in Idlib province and around Jisr al-Shughur. After occupying Christian villages and lands in Jisr al-Shughur, Idlib, the fighters largely relocated to Kafraya.
The human cost was substantial. More than a thousand Uyghur fighters were killed while opposition factions fought the former Assad regime.
Those who remained built lives around the conflict. Families of Turkistan Islamic Party members had been in Syria since the civil war’s early stages, and many fighters married Syrian nationals. In their settled areas, they opened restaurants, imported cars, ran petrol stations and set up Uyghur-language schools. They also established cultural institutions, while commercial work became the main activity for many in those communities.
The change came after the Assad regime fell in December 2024. The Turkistan Islamic Party was formally dissolved less than a month later.
The al-Sharaa government chose incorporation and assimilation for many foreign fighters and armed factions. Approximately 2,000 Uyghur fighters were placed in the 84th Division alongside roughly 200 Syrian soldiers. Those fighters and their families amount to around 20,000 individuals. The Uyghur contingent is described as one of the most disciplined in the new Syrian forces.
There has been no indication that the Uyghur fighters intend to leave Syria. Their position has instead become tied to the state structure that absorbed them.
Following the American withdrawal from Syria in April 2026, the Syrian army went through a profound reconfiguration. In Idlib, HTS used moral-guidance processes intended to consolidate its ranks, curb religious extremism and promote a shared ideological outlook.
Syrian officials have presented the Uyghurs’ incorporation as a means of management rather than a source of danger. The Ministry of Defense said their presence represented neither an internal nor an external threat, and argued that bringing them into official institutions would help control security and prevent future unrest.
The Foreign Ministry denied reports that Damascus planned to hand Uyghur fighters to Chinese authorities. Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Syria’s UN representative, Ibrahim Olabi, have sought to reassure Beijing that Uyghur armed personnel in Syria pose no threat to China.
Beijing has nevertheless continued to take an interest in the force. In September 2026, the US artificial intelligence company Anthropic documented accounts from China seeking through Claude to track, analyse and recruit Uyghur personnel who had joined Syria’s government military forces.
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