Syrian President Bashar Assad's troops are now clashing with Uighur fighters as the six-year conflict nears its endgame. There was a police trainer who journeyed thousands of miles with his wife and children to Syria, a war zone. And there was Ali, a short, soft-spoken 30-year-old with a primary school education who knew little of the world beyond his 35-acre farm when he left China. Uighur activists and Syrian and Chinese officials estimate that at least 5,000 Uighurs have gone to Syria to fight — though many have since left. Several Uighur fighters insisted that, in their minds, there was a distinct line between themselves and the Islamic militants they fought beside.

Source: ABC News December 22, 2017 06:33 UTC