During the civil war that broke out in Syria in 2011, tens of thousands of foreign fighters poured into the country. These fighters joined both the Assad regime and the rebels, fighting against each other. For example, thousands of Iranians, Pakistanis, and Afghans, mostly Shiites, came to Syria at Iran’s request to fight alongside Assad, while thousands of Sunni fighters arrived to support the rebels, answering calls for jihad against what the Islamist Salafist-jihadist rebels called Assad’s “infidel rule.” These fighters split into groups: some joined the Nusra Front, others the Islamic State (IS). They also fought each other. The Sunni fighters primarily came from Uyghurs, Turkmens, Uzbeks, and others, though Arabs from Egypt and Jordan were also among them. These fighters joined the organization led by Mohammed al-Joulani, head of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (“Headquarters for the Liberation of the Levant”), helping him overthrow Bashar Assad. This is a significant force that cannot be ignored.
With the fall of the Assad regime, the Shiite fighters fled to Iraq and from there back...
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