Asian rebels in Aleppo, Western blind spot
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Secretary of State John Kerry often refer to rebel jihadi groups in Syria as the “Syrian opposition.”
However, as German intelligence pointed out, over 95% of the fighters in Syria are foreign and not Syrian. Moreover, many are not even Arabs, but increasingly Asian.
Over the past few years, Asian fighters from Central Asia, China, as well as Russia have burrowed themselves in northern Syria around Aleppo and Idlib, with the majority from Uzbekistan.
Known as the ‘Aleppo Uzbeks’, various Uzbek groups such as Katibat al Taqhid wal Jihad (KTJ) and Imam Bukhari Jamaat (IBJ) have aligned with Al Nusra.[1] Estimates of Central Asian fighters in groups such as Jaish al-Muhajireen wal Ansar — which includes Chechens, Uzbeks and Tajiks and first appeared in Syria in 2012 — are around 1,500 in Aleppo.[2] They too merged with Al Nusra.
http://atimes.com/2016/02/asian-rebels-in-aleppo-western-blind-spot/
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