The Syrian National Army (SNA) yesterday held a military drill in a show of support for Turkey's imminent operation east of the Euphrates.
The SNA's special forces also attended the military exercise in the Afrin district of northern Syria.
Selim Idris, defense secretary of Syria's interim government and head of the SNA, led the drill which used real ammunition.
Some 500 highly trained soldiers captured a hill from enemy forces during the mock exercise.
The SNA is composed of various Turkey-backed opposition groups which are taking part in Turkey's ongoing Operation Olive Branch in Afrin to liberate the region from PKK and Daesh terrorists.
In a development last week, Syrian opposition groups SNA and the National Front for Liberation united under the interim government's Defense Ministry.
Syria's interim government was established on March 18, 2013 under the auspices of the national coalition. It is currently headquartered in Syria's northwestern city of Azaz. "As we have liberated west of Euphrates from Daesh terrorists, we will save eastern Euphrates from terrorists as well," Idris said, adding that the eastern Euphrates is also a part of Syrian territories and thus should not be neglected.
Explaining that the majority of these lands are under the control of the People's Protection Units (YPG), Idris said that the terrorists displaced local people in these areas and thus the main duty of the SNA is to enable those displaced locals to come back home.
"The locals who have been living in the east of Euphrates are our citizens. Regardless of their ethnicity, we are proud of them. We will not discriminate among any ethnicity or religious group. We are telling the locals that there is no difference between the PKK, YPG and Daesh. They all came to tear our country apart," he said.
Idris also called YPG's so-called fight against Daesh "theater."
"We saw how Daesh retreated without fighting against the YPG," he added.
