ALEPPO, Syria — Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions have completed their preparations for the military operation that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch against the Kurdish forces in northern Syria. FSA preparations include military maneuvers, as various armed groups raised their combat readiness to take part in the potential battle, while some factions conducted military parades.

The FSA-affiliated Third Legion announced on June 6 its readiness to take part in the battle against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The faction published pictures on its Twitter account on June 6 showing hundreds of its heavily armed fighters near the city of Azaz north of Aleppo. 

In another Twitter post on June 7, the faction said that “all Third Legion forces were military ready for the upcoming battles against the SDF in the Tal Abyad area of the northern countryside of Raqqa.”

Hisham Skeif, an official in the public relations office of the Third Legion, told Al-Monitor, “The Third Legion is well prepared for the battle against the SDF, as it recently conducted live-fire maneuvers to put the fighters’ combat readiness to the test. These maneuvers included [training on] most types of weapons and units including the infantry.”