GAZIANTEP, Turkey — The crucial city of al-Bab finds itself directly in the line of fire of all the forces in Syria competing to control it. Each party is seeking to fortify its military position in the city to grab land as the Islamic State (IS) withdraws.

“Our troops will advance toward al-Bab city. This will be our next military target. We want to completely liberate this city," said Ahmed Sultan, deputy commander of the Army of Revolutionaries, an affiliate of the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

"We will not allow the regime to advance, and we will also prevent the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army [FSA] factions from taking part in the liberation of al-Bab and its countryside," he told Al-Monitor. "These factions are unable to make any progress without Turkey's support. We are able to clear the area of ​​terrorism.”

Col. Haitham al-Afisi, the commanding officer of the FSA-affiliated rebel group Brigade 51 and an officer in the Hawar Kilis operation room, sees things differently. The next phase of Operation Euphrates Shield will include "ousting IS members and the separatist SDF troops" from an area south of the border zone that FSA cleared in the first phase.