Up to 5,000 Chinese Uighurs Fighting along Syria Terrorists
Local Editor
The Syrian ambassador to China warned that up to 5,000 ethnic Uighurs from China's violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang are fighting in various militant groups in Syria, adding that Beijing should be extremely concerned about it.
China is worried that Uighurs,who speak a Turkic language, have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight for militants there, having travelled illegally via Southeast Asia and Turkey.
Syria's ambassador in Beijing, Imad Moustapha, told Reuters on the sidelines of a business forum that while some of the Uighurs were fighting with Daesh [Arabic Acronym for the terrorist "ISIS"/"ISIL" group], most were fighting "under their own banner" to promote their separatist cause.
"Our estimated numbers, because of the numbers we fight against, we kill, we capture, we wound, would be around 4-5,000 Xinjiang militants," he said. "China as well as every other country should be extremely concerned."
Rights groups and Uighur exiles say many Uighurs have fled to Turkey simply to escape Chinese repression at home.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in an interview with the Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television in March, praised "crucial cooperation" between Syria and Chinese intelligence against Uighur militants. He said ties with China were "on the rise".
Moustapha said he would be attending next week's summit on China's new Silk Road plan, which aims to expand links between Asia, Africa and Europe underpinned by billions of dollars in infrastructure investment.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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