Free Syrian Army

Three of the leading international powers involved in Syria's war—the U.S., Russia and Iran—are looking to expand and fortify their military presence in the country by building and upgrading foreign bases, with some already in the works, according to NewsWeek.

The Islamic State stands on the brink of a twin defeat. Mosul, the largest city under its control, has almost entirely fallen from its grasp, and Kurdish-led forces are advancing into its de facto capital of Raqqa.

The Turkish military hit Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) targets in Syria with howitzers and rockets on July 3, with the defense minister vowing that Ankara would not hesitate to stage operations against the group, which it views as terrorist. 

On Aug. 24, 2016 the Turkish Armed Forces along with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) began a cross-border operation into northern Syria, in a bid to clear its borders from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) elements between the country's Azaz and Mare provinces.

Turkish forces retaliated with artillery fire overnight and destroyed Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia targets after YPG fighters opened fire on Turkey-backed forces in northern Syria, the Turkish military said on June 28.

Kurdish activists claim Turkey is building up its military forces in northern Syria for an assault on the Kurdish held district of Afrin, a development that could cause serious setbacks in the ongoing American-backed operation to liberate the defacto capital of ISIS, Raqqa.

Groups inside the Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces are involved in internal conflict, Turkish sources have admitted, amid reports that Turkish-backed rebels fought with each other in the Syrian town of al-Bab, leaving several dead and scores injured. 

Now that the U.S. has finally pushed the button for the long-planned Raqqa operation in Syria to dismantle the so-called caliphate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the genie is out of the bottle.

U.S. President Donald Trump recently signed a decree authorizing the direct providing of heavy arms to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the main component of which is the People's Protection Units (YPG), ahead of the campaign to take Raqqa from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). 

Turkey appears to be hoping that its bombing this week of Sinjar in Iraq and Rojava in northern Syria will enable it to intervene in those countries on a larger scale.