An anonymous SDF source told Sputnik Turkiye that last week at least 60 men from various FSA units had abandoned their cause and flocked to the SDF banners.
"Last week 60 members of the Sultan Murad Division, Feylek El Sam and Alparaslan Special Forces – all of them part of the FSA — abandoned their positions and defected to our side, while some of them joined the Syrian government forces. Yesterday another six fighters from the Damascus Front battalion, which also belongs to the FSA, joined us. These men surrendered with their weapons to the fighters of the Manbij Military Council and expressed a desire to join our ranks. We’re currently running background checks on these men; two of them are from Raqqa, others are from Aleppo and Deir ez Zor. If we deem them trustworthy, they’ll be allowed to join us," he said.
The defectors also said that FSA ranks are thinning out as its various groups keep bickering with each other, the source added.
"There’s a violent struggle going on within the FSA. Members of the various groups belonging to the FSA keep bickering with each other, their differences are becoming more aggravated, there are constant clashes," he said.
On August 24, 2016, Turkey and FSA forces launched Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Syria, liberating the cities of Jarabulus and al-Bab from Daesh (ISIL/ISIS). The operation was criticized by the Syrian Kurds and Damascus, who accused Ankara of violating Syria's territorial integrity.
