There are concerns that Syria could become a haven for groups with extremist ideology, which could then spread their tentacles to other countries. How serious is the problem with foreign extremists.
"He is a traitor, an infidel and a slave who bowed down to US President Donald Trump" - in the latest edition of its weekly newsletter, the extremist group "Islamic State" (IS) has made it clear what it thinks of Syria's new interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in the wake of his recent meeting with Trump.
This hostility between IS and the group that al-Sharaa used to lead - Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - is nothing new. Between 2012 and 2013, HTS was part of the so-called "Islamic State" before it allied with "Al Qaeda". After cutting ties with "Al Qaeda" in 2016, HTS spent nearly a decade fighting IS in the parts of the country it controlled. So criticism of al-Sharaa's more moderate political course is not unexpected.
The appeal of ISIS
But the text of the weekly newsletter also contains another interesting aspect: ISIS calls on foreign fighters in Syria to turn away from the current government of Ahmed al-Sharaa. All foreign fighters who are dissatisfied with al-Sharaa's course towards the United States should join ISIS, the Islamist group appeals.
These two stories - the meeting of the interim Syrian president with Trump and the appeal from ISIS - have focused attention on one of the most difficult problems of the interim government of Syria, namely what to do with the foreign fighters in the country. Donald Trump advised al-Sharaa to "tell all foreign terrorists to leave Syria" and set this as one of the conditions for easing sanctions. French and German envoys have made similar statements. There are concerns that Syria could become a haven for groups with extremist ideology, which could then launch operations internationally.
How many foreign fighters are there in Syria?
It is difficult to determine exactly how many foreigners are fighting on the side of “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham“. They may be between 1,500 and 6,000, with many experts suggesting that the number is somewhere in between. The largest group consists of Uyghurs, many of whom are affiliated with the Turkestan Islamic Party in Central and East Asia, including China. Other fighters come from Russia and former Soviet republics, the Balkans, France, the United Kingdom, Turkey, various Arab countries and other countries.
Most of them arrived in Syria at the beginning of the country's civil war - in response to calls from IS, which at the time was trying to establish a caliphate. After HTS severed ties with both ISIS and al-Qaeda, some of the foreign fighters left the group, but others stayed. In late 2024, during the HTS-led battle to oust Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, several groups of foreigners, including Uighurs and Chechens, appeared to play a significant role in the campaign's success. Syria's interim president then decided to reward them for their help in overthrowing the previous regime by appointing their representatives to senior positions in the new Syrian army, a decision that has sparked some controversy.
It's hard to say how important foreign fighters are to the Syrian security forces, which still have "more Syrians than foreigners," Aaron Zelin of the Washington Institute told DW. But some are more important than others, he added. For example, the Uyghur contingent of fighters is a kind of personal bodyguard for al-Sharaa. "They are essentially the ones who protect him because he trusts them - they are seen as brothers in arms since the fight against Assad," says Zelin.
A Syrian refugee who now lives in Germany told DW that he met quite a few foreign fighters in the fighting in Aleppo. "They were very committed to the fight against the Assad regime, they had Salafist views and they insisted on being where the fighting was going," he recalls. "Those who stayed in Syria have families there. If we expel them, we will have to expel their women and children at the same time," says the refugee, who asked to remain anonymous.
How dangerous are foreign fighters?
Foreign fighters with more extreme religious leanings have been blamed for recent violence against Syrian minorities. They have also been accused of controlling women, their dress and social mores in major Syrian cities. Until recently, HTS still portrayed itself as a "defender of Sunni Islam", says Orwa Ajoub, an analyst and expert on Syria. But since the fall of the Assad regime, the group has taken a more liberal course, he says.
"This abrupt change requires significant adjustment for rank-and-file members. This transition can be challenging for fighters accustomed to a narrower sectarian perspective. "Many HTS fighters who never left the conservative environment in Idlib are now clashing with less conservative communities in Damascus," Ajoub added.
– He said those of them who no longer find HTS radical enough have probably already left, and many of those who are not so radical are extremely disciplined. He also recalled that for years, al-Sharaa has been trying to eliminate all foreign fighters who oppose the group's new course.
Of course, individual foreign fighters can still commit crimes or cause trouble, Zelin said. "But the bigger threat comes from foreign fighters who are already in the "Islamic State" – These are the ones who continue to fight in eastern Syria, as well as those held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in camps run by Syrian Kurds.
What next for the foreign fighters?
After al-Sharaa’s meeting with Trump, rumors emerged that Syrian security forces had raided foreign fighter bases in Idlib. But local observers say it is unclear whether this was just rumors, political theater, or truth. A crackdown on such fighters seems unlikely. Members of the new Syrian government argue that the foreign fighters pose no threat to other countries, that they are too few to have a significant impact on the new Syrian army, and that they are loyal to al-Sharaa’s new administration anyway. Experts say that integrating them into the new Syrian security forces may actually be the best way to deal with them.
Yet, Zelin concludes, "of all the demands the US has made, this is probably the hardest for Syria. I don't think they really want to give up the foreign fighters unless they're doing something illegal.“