The foreign fighters who helped topple Assad — and why China worries about them

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Exclusive The foreign fighters who helped topple Assad — and why China worries about them May 17, 20265:02 AM ET Emily Feng 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. Emily Feng/NPR hide caption toggle caption Emily Feng/NPR JISR AL-SHUGHUR, Syria — The plan was daring: Under cover of night, an elite group of forces would ambush Syrian government soldiers and cut off strategic supply lines supporting the regime-held northern city of Aleppo. For months, the fighters had been quietly clearing a disused water tunnel just over 2 miles long, deep behind enemy lines in the countryside around Aleppo.

During a secret meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa — then the leader of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and now the leader of Syria — they agreed to prepare a joint assault to liberate Aleppo from regime control. Sponsor Message These elite fighters were not from Syria. They were Uyghurs — a largely Muslim ethnic minority long persecuted in China.

The Details

And when the offensive kicked off one night in November 2024, they went to work. Hobayd, a senior commander of the Uyghur militants in Syria, crouches in a strategic tunnel used during the 2024 offensive against then-President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Emily Feng/NPR hide caption toggle caption Emily Feng/NPR One unit of soldiers wearing oxygen tanks stationed itself in the poorly ventilated tunnel, which at points was less than a yard high.

A second unit lay in wait in olive groves facing Aleppo. At dawn, the unit in the tunnel emerged behind regime troops, while the second unit hit from the front, causing the government troops to scatter in panic. Meanwhile, other rebel units from various militant groups began attacking Aleppo itself.

Within days, Syria's once-largest city was in rebel hands. "We remained steadfast. Miraculously, all the brothers who charged into death itself came out alive," remembers Hobayd, 31, the commander of the unit inside the tunnel.

What Experts Say

He recalls the weeks that followed when they chased army soldiers all the way to Syria's capital, Damascus. "Every one of us survived and witnessed the liberation of Syria. " A man in Aleppo, Syria, on Dec.

8, 2024, holds Syrian opposition flags as he celebrates after Syria's army command notified officers that Assad's 24-year authoritarian rule had ended, following a rapid rebel offensive that took the world by surprise. Karam al-Masri/ hide caption toggle caption Karam al-Masri/ Just over a week after Aleppo fell, Syria's recently toppled dictator, Bashar al-Assad, fled to Russia: "From Aleppo, our way to Damascus was clear," adds Hobayd. This is the story of how the Uyghurs, a Turkic and predominantly Muslim ethnic minority spread across Central Asia but concentrated in China's far-western Xinjiang region, eventually became the largest contingent of foreign fighters in Syria.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.