By Timour Azhari, Khalil Ashawi and Suleiman Al-Khalidi
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Syria’s new leaders have put in overseas fighters, together with Uighurs, a Jordanian and a Turk, into the nation’s armed forces as Damascus makes an attempt to remodel a patchwork of insurgent teams into an expert military, two officers stated Syrian sources.
The choice to award official posts, together with high-level positions, to a number of jihadists may alarm some overseas governments and Syrian residents fearful in regards to the new administration’s intentions, regardless of its guarantees to not export the Islamic revolution and to control with tolerance in direction of Syria’s giant minority teams.
A Syrian authorities spokesperson didn’t reply to a request for touch upon the pondering behind the appointments.
The sources stated that out of a complete of practically 50 army positions introduced by the Protection Ministry on Sunday, at the least six had been awarded to foreigners.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the nationality of these named.
1000’s of Sunni Muslim foreigners joined Syrian rebels firstly of the 13-year civil struggle to combat Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the Iran-backed Shiite militias that supported him, giving the battle a sectarian connotation.
Some overseas fighters shaped their very own armed teams whereas others joined established formations such because the Islamic State because it rampaged by means of Iraq and Syria, briefly declaring a so-called caliphate earlier than being put into operation. rout by forces backed by america and Iran.
Different overseas jihadist teams joined HTS, which denied its earlier hyperlinks to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State and fought bloody battles in opposition to them earlier than spearheading the lightning advance that toppled Assad on December 8.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, the HTS chief who turned Syria’s de facto ruler, has purged dozens of overseas jihadist fighters as a part of a marketing campaign to Syrianize and average his group.
In feedback broadcast on Sunday, Sharaa stated the brand new Syria “can’t be led by the mentality of teams and militias.”
Syria’s new leaders, primarily from the HTS, have indicated that overseas fighters and their households could possibly be granted Syrian citizenship and allowed to remain within the nation due to their contributions to the combat in opposition to Assad.
The Protection Ministry on Sunday introduced 49 appointments to the military, together with leaders of the principle Syrian armed factions.
Amongst them had been a number of overseas fighters, three with the rank of brigadier normal and at the least three others with the rank of colonel, a Syrian army supply stated.
‘RECOGNITION TOKEN’
“It’s a small signal of recognition for the sacrifices that Islamist jihadists have made in our battle to free ourselves from Assad’s oppression,” an HTS supply advised Reuters.
Chinese language Uyghur activist Abdulaziz Dawood Khudaberdi, often known as Zahid and commander of the separatist Turkestan Islamic Get together (TIP) forces in Syria, has been appointed brigadier normal, in response to a TIP assertion and confirmed by a Syrian army supply .
Two different Uyghur fighters, Mawlan Tarsoun Abdussamad and Abdulsalam Yasin Ahmad, obtained the rank of colonel, stated the TIP assertion printed on its web site, congratulating them and the Uyghur neighborhood on the appointments.
All of the names seem within the press launch printed on Sunday by the Ministry of Protection, even when the nationalities should not indicated.
The TIP is believed to have a whole bunch of fighters in Syria and goals to ascertain an Islamic state in components of China and Central Asia, the place a big Uighur Muslim inhabitants lives.
Rights teams accuse Beijing of widespread abuses in opposition to Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority numbering round 10 million within the western Xinjiang area, together with the widespread use of compelled labor in camps. Beijing denies any abuse.
“The East Turkestan Islamic Motion is a terrorist group listed by the UN Safety Council,” Chinese language International Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated at a daily information convention on Tuesday. utilizing the Chinese language title of the TIP.
“The worldwide neighborhood ought to absolutely acknowledge the violent nature of the East Turkestan Islamic Motion and resolutely suppress it,” she added.
China additionally labels the TIP a terrorist group chargeable for plots to assault Chinese language targets abroad. Beijing stated the TIP “severely threatens” China’s abroad pursuits and safety and that combating the group was China’s “core concern” in its counterterrorism efforts.
Turkish citizen Omar Mohammed Jaftashi and Jordanian citizen Abdul Rahman Hussein al-Khatib had been additionally named brigadier generals, the Syrian army supply and the HTS supply stated.
Abdul Jashari, an ethnic Albanian fighter often known as Abu Qatada al-Albani, was named colonel, the army supply stated.
Jashari leads the Albanian jihadist group Xhemati Alban and was designated a terrorist by the US Treasury in 2016.
Egyptian Alaa Mohammed Abdel-Baqi additionally obtained a army rank, the supply stated.
Egypt’s International Ministry didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
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