Free Syrian Army Set to Seize Strategic City in Aleppo From Daesh

The Free Syrian Army plans to start an operation to liberate the strategic city of al-Bab in Syria’s Aleppo province, Redif Müslim a lawyer and representative of the FSA told Sputnik in an interview. A destroyed building in the Bani Zeid district in north Aleppo © Sputnik/ Michael Alaeddin Turkey Plans to Use Aleppo as ‘Trump Card’ in Future Political Talks After storming Jarablus town center with the support of Turkey, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) now intends to carry out an operation to liberate the city of al-Bab from the clutches of Daesh. According to the information, FSA fighters with the support of Turkey and the United States managed to take control of Jarablus within just 12 hours. The city of al-Bab is located between the Kurdish cantons of Afrin and Kobani. The main objective of the operation will be to cut off Kurdish transportation routes between Afrin and Kobani. Talking to Sputnik in an interview, Müslim said, “I have just recently returned from Jarablus, where I met with soldiers and commanders of the FSA. Currently, in the city there are more than 1,500 Syrian opposition fighters. They are engaged in defusing mines and booby traps. Life in the city is slowly returning to normal.” The representative further said that the civilians have not yet returned to their homes, but it is possible that they would do so in the near future. “The town has battalions of fighters from Sultan Murad, Damascus Front, Turkmen groups as part of the FSA. It is expected that later on around 200 fighters will remain in the city, 15 of them will provide security at border posts of Jarablus, while other fighters will take part in the operation,” Müslim said. He said that currently the FSA troops have advanced 10 km west of Jarablus. Their immediate tasks involve freeing the territory from Jarablus to Chobanbey village. “Last night, in the south of Jarablus there was a short face-off between FSA and Kurdish troops. In the near future there is a plan to hold an operation to release Al-Bab, which is located south of Chobanbey. Turkey will provide massive support in the framework of this operation,” the representative said. Muslim also stressed the need for stripping the entire border area of Daesh and noted that the militants during an operation in Jarablus were unable to resist the atta