FSA sees 'golden opportunity' with end of Turkey's operations in Syria

ALEPPO, Syria — The Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions in Aleppo’s countryside intensified their military training after Turkey announced the end of Operation Euphrates Shield on March 29.

The FSA factions established new training camps in Aleppo’s countryside, near the Turkish border, to include the large number of fighters who recently joined in, in addition to the senior fighters who have been fighting within FSA ranks for some time now. The camps include courses on the use of various types of weapons and physical fitness training.

The FSA factions in Aleppo’s countryside started training the new fighters early this year. This training coincided with the military operations the FSA was conducting against the Islamic State (IS), with the support of Turkish forces under Ankara’s Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched on Aug. 24, 2016.

Although FSA fighters joined training camps in the past, the new camps offer more organized training, as the FSA now has more time on its hands to train a large number of fighters since Turkey announced the end of its operation in Syria. The training operations began intensifying on April 1, and internal training camps were set up near the Syrian-Turkish border. A batch of about 50 newly recruited fighters affiliated with al-Hamza Brigade graduated from the brigade’s training camp near the city of Azaz in northwestern Syria on April 15. They received training on the use of light weapons only, as the training aimed at increasing the number of fighters within its ranks.