BEIJING • Some of the Uighurs deported to China last week from Thailand had planned to go to Syria and Iraq to take part in militant activities, state broadcaster CCTV said, showing pictures of them being bundled out of an aircraft.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Uighur Muslims keen to escape unrest in China's western Xinjiang region have travelled clandestinely via South-east Asia to Turkey.

Last week's deportation of 109 Uighurs from Thailand has sparked anger in Turkey, home to a large Uighur diaspora, and fed concern among human rights groups and the United States that they could be mistreated upon their return.

REUTERS