Anger at China drives Uygurs to fight alongside al-Qaeda in Syrian war in preparation for revenge
For many in the Muslim ethnic group, China has become unlivable since Beijing launched a security crackdown in Xinjiang in 2009
The Chinese interrogators held burning cigarettes to Ali’s face, tied him against a tree and beat him as they tried to get the Uygur farmer to say he took part in an ethnic riot that killed dozens in western China.
That winter night in the Chinese city of Kashgar in 2009 set Ali on a path that ended in northern Syria where he picked up a Kalashnikov rifle under the black flag of jihad and dreamed of launching attacks against the Chinese rulers of his homeland.
Since 2013, thousands of Uygurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from western China, have travelled to Syria to train with the Uygur militant group Turkestan Islamic Party and fight alongside al-Qaeda, playing key roles in several battles. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s troops are now clashing with Uygur fighters as the six-year conflict nears its endgame.
But the end of Syria’s war may be the beginning of China’s worst fears.
“We didn’t care how the fighting went or who Assad was,” Ali, who would only give his first name out of a fear of reprisals against his family back home, said. “We just wanted to learn how to use the weapons and then go back to China.”
