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FSA likely to cooperate with Russia against ISIS if Moscow changes its policy in Syria

"We believe that the regime has caused the emergence of Islamic State," Ahmad al-Othman said. "However, we hope that Russia will actually join the fight against ISIS"

GENEVA, February 25. /TASS/. Free Syrian Army (FSA) does not rule out it will coordinate its actions with Russia in the fight against Islamic State (ISIS, terrorist group banned in Russia) if Moscow changes its policy of support to Syria’s government, Ahmad al-Othman, one of the commanders in Operation Euphrates Shield, told TASS on Saturday.

When asked about a possibility of military coordination with Russian against ISIS, al-Othman, who is a member of the delegation of Syrian opposition umbrella group High Negotiations Committee (HNC) at the talks, said, "Yes, given Russia, which supports the regime, changes its policy. We call on Russia to resolutely fight against terrorism but not defend the regime."

"We believe that the regime has caused the emergence of Islamic State (ISIS, a terrorist group banned in Russia - TASS)," he went on to say. "However, we hope that Russia will actually join the fight against ISIS."

Answering a TASS question about Russian air strikes on ISIS position near al-Bab that the Turkish forces and the FSA took under control soon afterwards, he said, "These were two air strikes south of al-Bab. They (Russian forces) have not had any other role."

Since last December, Turkish army and the Free Syrian Army have joined their efforts to retake al-Bab, one of Islamic State’s strongholds in Syria. On February 24, Turkish General Staff said that the city districts had been regained from Islamic State militants.