Turkmen commander: DAESH fears Turkish interference, plants mine in border villages

DAESH's biggest worry is Turkey's likely intervention in the region and consequently the terrorist organization is planting mines across areas under its control, Fehim Isa, the commander of the Syrian opposition Sultan Murad Brigades, said yesterday. Speaking to Yeni Şafak daily, Isa said: "Notably Cobanbey and Jarabulus, facing the Turkish border as well as Raghibiyah and the villages of Tat, Homs, Dodian, Tal Shahir, Tal Battal, Qantarah and Izzatiyah are completely planted with mines."

Indicating that a possible Turkish intervention in the region is what DAESH is concerned of most, he said the terrorist organization is preparing for offensives on Azaz, a town 7 kilometers away from the Turkish border.

"We will continue to fight against [Syrian President Bashar] Assad's regime, DAESH and Democratic Union Party [PYD] terrorist organizations in solidarity as Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens," Isa said.

Isa also claimed that DAESH, which has experienced significant losses in the last period to the regime and the PYD, leaving dozens of villages to them, is in efforts to unite all forces to attack opposition groups and store up a considerable amount of ammunition.

More than 400,000 Turkmens live in 278 dwelling units in the north of Aleppo province and almost 80 percent of the region is under DAESH control.

Opposition groups are currently conducting an operation to take all DAESH-held Turkmen villages in an 80-kilometer line around Jarabulus where the PYD has made efforts to control. Ankara is maintaining its support for the anti-DAESH offensives with howitzer fire. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that around 500 artillery rounds were fired at DAESH positions in the 48 hours following the suicide bombing in Istanbul, killing 200 terrorists in total, including so-called regional chiefs.

Since the operations started on Jan. 9, opposition groups have continued to make progress against DAESH, seizing control of several villages with 1,200 men from the Liwa Sultan Murad Brigade, Shamiya Front and the Sham Legion.