Will the opposition in northern Syria succeed in restructuring its forces?

The restructuring of the army of the interim government in northern Syria comes with the aim of controlling security and enhancing stability (Al Jazeera)

Northern Syria -

The Syrian opposition has begun implementing a plan to restructure what it calls its "Syrian National Army," which aims to "control security" in northern Syria and strengthen the powers of the Ministry of Defense of the Syrian Interim Government.

The plan includes dissolving the advisory council in these forces, forming a higher military council that includes senior officers, and reducing the number of factions from 27 to 18, after merging some of them on the basis of types of weapons and technical specializations, with the aim of getting rid of regional or ideological foundations.

The number of fighters will be gradually reduced by half over periods extending over several months, and some of them will be transferred to the military police, where their performance will be improved and their powers will be strengthened.

A plan to completely restructure the Syrian National Army.. Will it succeed this time? https://t.co/QKHGL7Xl7X

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Plan objectives

A leader in the "Syrian National Army" told Al-Jazeera Net, who preferred to remain anonymous, that "the Ministry decided, with the support of the interim government and consultation with the Turkish side and the coalition, to begin a new restructuring process for the Syrian National Army."

The plan is based on controlling the numbers and organizing the factions in the context of military legions and brigades, having the fighters undergo training at the Military College affiliated with the Ministry of Defense, and handing over all checkpoints to the military police.

The leader added that the goal is to improve the status of the army, strengthen the centralization of decision-making in areas under its control, end the state of separate sectors for each faction, restore rights to their people, seriously listen to the demands of the population and work to solve their problems and address their situations.

He pointed out that one of the future goals is to limit the incursion of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham into the northern countryside of Aleppo, by seeking to include some of the groups that have allied with it into the "umbrella of the National Army."

“Therefore, this will block the way for it to win the favor of some factions with money, and we are beginning to see signs of that, especially in light of the internal crisis that the Authority is suffering from.”

In the same context, a crossing will be established in Al-Ghazawiyah, affiliated with the Ministry of Defense, in order to prevent the comfortable entry and exit of the Authority’s cells.

Leaders and officials in the Ministry of Defense of the "Interim" government confirmed that the plan aims to close the unofficial crossings between the areas controlled by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and the areas of the National Army, and replace them with a single official crossing to control security and prevent any infiltrations by the group.

A crossing belonging to the Syrian Interim Government (Al Jazeera)

Controlling decision making

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, the researcher at the “Jusoor Center for Studies” Abdel Wahab Assi considered that the current steps do not amount to a comprehensive restructuring of the “National Army,” but rather they are reform steps aimed at controlling the decision-making and decision-making mechanism, reducing the intensity of polarization and internal fighting, and conducting Adjustments to missions and troop size.

Assi explained that the expected amendments in the first phase include transferring a number of groups to the military police staff, expanding and developing the border guard forces, and converting some factions or part of them into rapid intervention forces or special forces.

Assi pointed out that the primary goal of this plan is to end the state of instability in the opposition-controlled areas, and to provide a security model capable of controlling the region, in preparation for the possibility of transferring it to the areas controlled by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib.

Assi stressed that the continued security weakness and the penetration caused by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham's entry into areas north of Aleppo prompted the factions and Turkey to rework on a comprehensive plan to reform the military and security structure in opposition areas.

The National Army of the Syrian Opposition is preparing to participate in the battle east of the Euphrates (Al Jazeera)

The necessity of restructuring

In early February, the Syrian National Coalition conducted an extensive tour in northern Syria, which lasted for several days and included various military and civilian institutions.

The delegation included the head of the coalition, Hadi Al-Bahra, his deputy, Abdul Majeed Barakat, and a number of coalition members, and toured government departments, councils, and military institutions in the cities of Azaz, Marea, Al-Bab, Al-Rai, Jarabulus, Afrin, and their countryside.

The delegation met with the Minister of Defense, commanders in the National Army, military and civil police officials, and heads of local councils, and there was a serious talk about the importance and necessity of change and improving the reality of the region.

Military expert Brigadier General Muhammad Al-Khaled confirms that “the National Army went through many stages, the title of which was dispersion during the last period, especially after building alliances within it against each other, until the situation reached the point where fighting occurred, as happened between Al-Hamzat, Al-Ashmat, and the Levant Front.”

He added in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that "restructuring is necessary, especially after some National Army factions allied with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and facilitated their security operations within areas under the control of the National Army in the Aleppo countryside, which led to their incursion several times into the Afrin region."

Al-Khaled stresses that the restructuring must be by merging all the factions so that they are directly subordinate to the Ministry of Defense, and that there must be Turkish support so that the Ministry is the only institution that brings together all the factions in order to limit the influence of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham in the Aleppo countryside.

Crossings

The areas of the "National Army" of the Syrian Interim Government and the Salvation Government of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham are separated by two crossings: the "Ghazawiyah" crossing and the "Deir Ballut" crossing near the Turkish-Syrian border.

The Salvation Government imposes taxes on any goods coming to Idlib from areas under the control of the Interim Government, according to their type and weight. It also carries out careful inspection campaigns on some materials, and imports fuel and fuel from those areas.

Political activist Muhammad Al-Aswad points out that the northern Aleppo countryside is in a state of chaos, despite the passage of several years since the National Army took control of the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas, after the Kurdish units were expelled from them.

This led to fighting and the spread of random weapons.

Al-Aswad confirms that the restructuring of the “National Army” is a Turkish-motivated step to rebuild institutions in the areas of rural Aleppo, after attempts by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham to control the region and reach the Azaz region, north of Aleppo, as well as strengthening the security reality in cities and villages.

Source: Al Jazeera