ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

By the Turkish Army, Click to see full-size image On May 6, Turkey’s President  Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Turkish Army is ready to launch a new cross-border military operation against the “terrorist organizations” after the early Parliament and Presidential election that will be held in Turkey on June 24. “We will not give up on constricting terrorist organizations. In the new period, Turkey will add new ones to the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in order to clear its borders … We shattered the terror corridor being formed on our southern border with these operations. Our soldiers, who lastly wrote an epic in Afrin, are ready for new missions,” Erdogan said during a public speech in the city of Istanbul in which he revealed the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) manifesto, according Reuters. Turkey launched its first military operation in Syria, codenamed “Euphrates Shield,” in late 2016 and managed to capture large areas in the northern Syr

On May 6, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the northern Homs countryside pocket handed over at least two Chinese-made FN-6 man portable air defense systems (MANPADs) to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) under  the reconciliation agreement, which was reached on May 2 . According to local observers, this type of the MANPADs was supplied to the FSA in 2014 by Qatar that had acquired them from Sudan. FSA fighters also handed over two Soviet-made Konkurs and Metis anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) launchers and an RPG-29 anti-tank rocket launcher. These weapons were likely captured from the SAA as early as 2012. Click to see the full-size image Dozens of mortar cannons, heavy machine guns, units of military equipment and a sizable amount of ammunition were also handed over to the SAA. Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Click to see the full-size image Over the last four days, the SAA recovered four T-55 battle ta