Trump administration backs Syrian plan to integrate foreign fighters into national army

The US has endorsed a Syrian government plan to absorb thousands of former rebel and foreign fighters, many of whom once fought against the Assad regime, into the country's restructured national army.

Thomas Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and President Donald Trump’s newly appointed special envoy to Syria, confirmed Monday that Washington supports the initiative on the condition that the process remains transparent.

The plan would see around 3,500 foreign fighters, primarily Uyghurs from China and Central Asia, integrated into the newly created 84th Division of the Syrian Army, alongside Syrian nationals.

Barrack told Reuters: "I would say there is an understanding, with transparency." He added it was better to keep fighters, many of whom are "very loyal" to Syria's new administration, within a state project to exclude them.

For years, Washington demanded that the new Syrian leadership, formed after rebel groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted Bashar al-Assad last year, bar foreign fighters from national security institutions. But that stance appears to have softened following Trump's Middle East tour last month.

During a historic meeting in Riyadh with Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, Trump agreed to lift Assad-era sanctions and named Barrack, a long-time ally and informal advisor, as his point man on Syria. 

Sources close to the Syrian defence ministry told Reuters that Sharaa’s inner circle had been lobbying Western governments for months, arguing that integrating foreign fighters would be less dangerous than cutting them loose - a move that could push them into the arms of al-Qaeda or ISIS.

China watching closely

The bulk of the foreign fighters expected to be absorbed are members of the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), a Uyghur militant group designated as a terrorist organisation by Beijing.

Many of these fighters arrived in Syria in the early years of the civil war, joining jihadist groups like HTS and ISIS in their battle against Assad, who was backed by Iranian and Russian forces.

While some formed their factions, others became embedded within HTS, eventually earning reputations as disciplined, battle-hardened militants. Many played key roles in HTS's elite units, particularly during the group’s bloody break from al-Qaeda in 2016.

China, alarmed by the presence of Uyghur militants in Syria, has urged Damascus to restrict their influence. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson previously said: "China hopes that Syria will oppose all forms of terrorism and extremist forces in response to the concerns of the international community."

The exact number of TIP fighters remains disputed. While Foreign Policy once estimated that there would be as many as 5,000 fighters with around 15,000 family members, other sources suggest that those figures may be inflated.

In December 2024, the Syrian government granted TIP leader Abu Muhammad al-Turkistani the rank of brigadier general and command of the 133rd Division. However, foreign fighters under his influence were not officially counted as members of the division.

Osman Bughra, a senior TIP political official, told Reuters that the group had formally dissolved and merged into the Syrian military structure. "At present, the group operates entirely under the authority of the Ministry of Defence, adheres to national policy, and maintains no affiliations with external entities or groups," he said.

Despite the US endorsement, the decision to integrate former jihadists has raised eyebrows in Western capitals. Late last year, the appointment of several former HTS commanders to senior military positions alarmed European and US officials, sparking calls to freeze such appointments and expel foreign fighters.

Those demands persisted until just days before Trump's meeting with Sharaa in May.

However, President Sharaa publicly hinted that foreign fighters and their families may be eligible for Syrian citizenship for their contributions to the anti-Assad campaign. "They stood by the revolution," he said in a recent interview with The New York Times.

That position has drawn concern from Western security services, who fear Syria could become a "haven for transnational militants". But Syrian analysts argue that many of the fighters have already integrated into society, particularly in northwestern regions.

Some have married Syrians and show little intention of returning to their home countries, especially China, where they face certain imprisonment or worse.

(Reuters)