FSA thwarts PYD gains in Syria’s Aleppo

By Mohamad Misto and Selen Temizer

ALEPPO, Syria

Factions of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) continue to prevent the PYD terrorist group -- the Syrian wing of the PKK terrorist group -- from making advances in Syria’s northwestern city of Aleppo.

Fierce clashes have taken place in recent days in the city’s Ashrafiya district between Assad regime forces and the Russia-backed PYD on one hand and FSA factions on the other.

Abu Karmo al-Idlibi, a commander of the Jeysh al-Tahrir armed opposition group (which fights under the umbrella of the FSA), said opposition fighters were currently trying to "save" Aleppo from the PYD.

"When the PYD comes under pressure, it looks to the Assad regime for support," al-Idlibi told Anadolu Agency.

"Coordination between the two is extremely close; regime warplanes know exactly where to strike when providing the PYD with air cover," he said.

The regime is also supporting the PYD with artillery fire from regime-held positions in northern Aleppo, he added.

Salih Salloum, another Jeysh al-Tahrir field commander, condemned the PYD for recently parading the corpses of slain FSA fighters through the PYD-held town of Afrin, asserting that the FSA buried the bodies of slain PYD militants according to Islamic tradition.