The Turkistan Islamic Party is an Al Qaeda branch that fights under the banner of Hayat Tahrir al Sham, the Salafist jihadist terror group that led the overthrow of the Assad regime and is forming a new Syrian government.

Uighur jihadist group in Syria, Katibat al Ghuraba al Turkistan, has created a Palestinian sub-unit to accommodate its Palestinian and Arab members.

The suicide bombings show the Turkistan Islamic Party’s close battlefield integration with al Qaeda’s forces in Syria, as well as further highlighting its position within the overall al Qaeda network.

A Uighur commander known as Abu Omar al Turkistani was killed in a US drone strike in Syria on Jan. 1. According to a jihadi biography posted online, he had a lengthy career fighting alongside al Qaeda-linked forces. He purportedly participated in the Battle of Tora Bora in late 2001.

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