The Syrian National Army (SNA) of the opposition inaugurated its first military academy in a bid to improve the strength of forces formed amid the Syrian civil war.

The Defense Ministry Warfare School, as it is called, will train prospective officers of the army, which is looking to modernize itself.

The SNA was created in 2017 by the Syrian Interim Government and is a collection of troops with or without previous military experience. The government has been looking to develop and transform it into a regular army since then. The Warfare School, opened on May 29 in Afrin of Aleppo, will serve this purpose. A ceremony was recently held for the inauguration, with the participation of the Syrian Interim Government and SNA officials. Initially, the school will offer modern military training for 500 personnel.

The Syrian Interim Government had earlier announced plans to modernize its military and law enforcement.

The SNA is composed of three army corps under the command of the Office of Chief of Joint Staff, itself a subsidiary of the Defense Ministry of the Interim Government. It was founded to defend regions in Syria’s north controlled by the opposition against the Assad regime and its allies, as well as the YPG, the Syria wing of the terrorist group PKK, and other assorted terrorist groups. The SNA is active in an area covering some 5,000 square kilometers, from Afrin to Ras al-Ain, to protect the civilian population.

The Syrian National Army is supported by Türkiye in its operations for the liberation of the country’s north from terrorist groups that exploited the security vacuum amid civil war. Türkiye had earlier carried out training for members of the army, which was initially comprised of various factions that joined forces with the Syrian opposition. The army’s exact number is unclear, but it is believed to be nearly 70,000 staff. Türkiye’s support for the armed forces primarily aims to ensure a terror-free northern Syria immediately across the Turkish border, which suffered several cross-border attacks by the PKK in the past. The terrorist group largely controlled Afrin, where the military school was established in the past, but in 2018, Operation Olive Branch by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) drove it out. Since then, Afrin has been repopulated by its former residents, including those who took shelter in Türkiye after the civil war began.