Report: US approves integration of foreign jihadists into Syrian army

The United States has approved a move by Syria’s new regime to incorporate foreign jihadist fighters into its military ranks, as long as the process is carried out with transparency, according to a report by Reuters on Monday.

According to three Syrian security sources, the decision will see around 3,500 foreign fighters – mostly Uyghurs from China and neighboring countries – integrated into the Syrian Army’s 84th Division, which will also include local Syrian troops.

When asked whether the U.S. would support the absorption of these fighters, U.S. envoy to Syria Thomas Barak replied that there is “an understanding, with transparency.” He added that it is preferable to integrate the fighters – whom he described as “very loyal” to the Syrian regime – into a national project rather than leaving them marginalized.

Since coming to power, Syria’s new leadership has sought to incorporate foreign fighters into its ranks. Two sources close to the Syrian Ministry of Defense told Reuters that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa had urged Western nations to accept that integrating these jihadists into the Syrian army would be more constructive than allowing them to regroup under ISIS or al-Qaeda.

Until early May, however, the U.S. had opposed the move due to the fighters’ past affiliations with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group once led by al-Sharaa and originally a branch of al-Qaeda.

The shift reportedly followed former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East, during which he met with al-Sharaa. Since then, Trump has reversed his stance on Syria, lifting all U.S. sanctions imposed during the Assad era and appointing Barak as special envoy to Damascus. The foreign fighter deal is believed to be part of this growing rapprochement.

Reports indicate that Syria is currently home to around 15,000 Uyghur Muslims. Of those, some 5,000 are jihadist fighters who have been active in Syria’s civil war since 2013, many of them affiliated with the Turkistan Islamic Party – a separatist jihadist group aiming to establish an Islamic state in western China. The group is classified as a terrorist organization in China, the U.S., Russia, and other countries.