FSA soldiers live in fear in Arsal

Having suffered the double injustice of both fleeing ISIS and standing accused of colluding with its members, morale is desperately low among FSA ranks in Arsal.“We have reached a situation that is very bad. It couldn’t get worse,” said Mohammad, also an FSA commander residing on the outskirts of Arsal. “The Syrian revolution has been orphaned. After what they [ISIS] did in Mosul and after they were trying to build an Islamic State in my country, I felt that this was really an attack on my dignity. I won’t allow myself to go with them ... I am still convinced that we want a free Syria, a democratic country where the people can decide. I know the Islamic State will not provide me with that. We used to offer the revolution everything we had, but today we have become a burden on the revolution because we don’t have anything to offer anymore except our lives, and that is our last option.”