(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 30 rebel factions operating under the banner of Syria’s interim government have merged in a unified armed group after four months of preparations, Prime Minister said on Saturday.
Jawad Abu Hatab, the head of the opposition's Interim government and the Defense Minister, announced forming of the National Army after meeting with moderate rebel commanders in the town of Azaz in Aleppo province.
The newly-formed body has 22,000 fighters, some of them have been trained and equipped by Turkey.
The idea of the National Army was proposed late on August by the Syrian Islamic Council (SIC), a body of Syrian Muslim clerics established in 2014 in Turkey.
"We must end the fractured state we are now facing and unify ranks," said the SIC, calling on rebels "to form one revolutionary army", according to The New Arab.
The interim government said the unified structure would "bring the downfall of the criminal regime".