The U.S. tries building in Syria "a new Syrian army" from the Kurds and former militants of Islamic State (IS) and Jabhat Al-Nusra, Russia’s Ambassador to Syria Alexander Kinshchak said in an interview with TASS.
"As for the U.S., it, apparently, relies rather not on Al-Nusra, but on the Kurds of the Democratic Union Party [PYD], as well as on the Arabic armed units in Syria’s east," he said on Saturday. "Along with other militants, they enrol former IS, Nusra and other terrorists.
The US wants to divide Syria and increase its own military presence in the country, added Alexander Kinshchak.
Kinshchak also accused opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of using the terrorist group Jabhat Al-Nusra as a means of exerting pressure on Damascus.
"As for secret plans of the outer forces in regard Al-Nusra, I can say for quite a long time that terrorist organization for some countries had been an ally in fighting against the Syrian legal government," the ambassador said. "Today, it is one of the last remaining trumps on hands of those who are against Syria’s President Bashar Assad and who seek military pressure on Damascus," he added.
"However, all those terrorists are not reliable allies," he continued. "It is dangerous to be playing such games with terrorists - they must be eliminated in joint efforts."
SOHR: 120 ISLAMIC STATE MILITANSTS JOIN THE SDF
The opposition Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) says the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) release more than 400 Syrian members of Islamic State members including commanders and more than 120 members of them join the SDF in Deir Ezzor.
Civil fears of raging fighting among families or clans in Deir Ezzor and Al-Hasakah countryside in the wake of releasing former members of Islamic State from prisons of the SDF, the SOHR reported.
JIHADIST COMPONENTS OF THE SDF
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces founded in 2015. Its makeup largely consists of Kurdish YPG -YPJ militants, jihadist groups, smaller groups of Arab, Turkmen. Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa, or the Raqqa Revolutionaries Brigade, is currently part of the SDF.
Between 2012 and 2013, Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa was allied to the al-Nusra Front in Raqqa city. In September 2013, it pledged allegiance to the al-Nusra Front and became part of it, although it was not fully integrated into Nusra. In September 2014, Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa joined the YPG-FSA Euphrates Volcano joint operations room. In late 2015, the group reappeared, announcing it had decided to join Syrian Democratic Forces.
It is also notable that Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa appeared to adapt to the Islamic presence in Raqqa, not only by adding the definite adjective 'al-Islami' (Islamic) to its name but also by using the same flag as Islamic State in at least one video, from July 2013, in which the group claims coordination with a number of formations, including Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham, Liwa Ahfad al-Rasul and Liwa al-Muntasir bi-Allah, in attacking a convoy that came from Brigade 93.
