Syrian opposition forces open first military barracks

Syrian opposition forces have opened their first military training college and barracks.

A ceremony marking the opening of the Syrian National Army’s ‘Martyr Yasser Abu Al Sheikh Barracks’ in northern Syria’s Azaz was held on Thursday. The barracks are under the Al Hamza Division Special Forces.

The Syrian National Army, also known as the Free Syria Army, is backed by Turkey in its fight against the Bashar al Assad regime based in Damascus.

The facility will serve as a closed military training college with barracks equipped to provide lodging quarters for soldiers.

The head of the opposition’s Syrian Interim Government Abdurrahman Mustafa and SNA Major General Salim Idris attended the opening ceremony which showcased a military parade.

Yasser Abu Al Sheikh, one of the field commanders of the Al Hamza division, was killed in 2016 during Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield.

The Al Hamza division was established in 2015 to fight the Daesh, and consists of 6,500 Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds.

Turkey’s Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northwestern Syria have reclaimed the region from Daesh and YPG terror groups, making it possible for Syrians who fled violence to return home.

The US backed the PYD/YPG-dominated SDF in a battle for Daesh’s last territory in Syria.

The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organisation. In the PKK’s 30-year terror campaign against the Turkish state, more than 40,000 people, including women and children, have been killed.

Turkey, the US and the EU recognise the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

Ankara has long decried the threat from terrorists east of the Euphrates in northern Syria, pledging military action to prevent the formation of a “terrorist corridor” there.

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