MILITANTS CREATE “EASTERN SHIELD ARMY”, AIM TO CAPTURE QAMISHLY, HASKHAH, DEIR EZZOR AND RAQQAH

Sources allegedly representing the Free Syrian Army (FSA) – so far there is no a united command of the FSA – have announced that a new FSA group under the name of the Eastern Shield Army (or the Al-Sharqiyah Shield Army) was formed in order to capture Qamishly, Haskhah, Deir Ezzor and Raqqah.

According to the sources the, Al-Sharqiyah Shield Army will fight the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and ISIS.

The group also released a video showing few poorly armed fighters during what appears to be a military training.

According to many pro-government and pro-opposition sources, this new formation is nothing more than a new propaganda stunt by the Turkish government. According to many pro-opposition sources, the Turks are allegedly trying to blackmail their American allies because Washington supports the predominantly Kurdish SDF in Syria.

From the other side, the pro-government media sees this announcement as another Turkish attempt to break the shaky ceasefire.

The areas liberated from ISIS by the SDF and the SAA in eastern Syria are relatively safe and peaceful. It looks like Turkey is looking to heat еру things up again in these areas. Ankara can’t directly interfere because of the US military presence on the ground. It once again went to use the name of the FSA as a tool to push its plans in Syria.

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