Syrian army victory ends the long fight for Aleppo
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THE Syrian army has retaken full control of the devastated city of Aleppo, it said on Thursday, scoring its biggest victory against opposition forces since the civil war erupted in 2011.
The announcement came after an evacuation deal that ended a vicious monthlong offensive waged on east Aleppo by government forces.
The operation ended a battle that had lasted nearly four and a half years, and transformed the city into a worldwide symbol of bloodshed and devastation.
Thousands of inhabitants in the western part of the city, which had remained under the regime’s control throughout the conflict, took to the streets, chanting slogans and shouting their jubilation despite extreme cold. “Our joy is immense. Life returned to Aleppo today,” said lawyer Omar Halli, who predicted “victory over all of Syria.”
An army statement said the general command “announces the return of security to Aleppo after its release from terrorism and terrorists, and the departure of those who stayed there.”
A rebel official said the loss was a major blow for the revolt against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“On the political level, this is a great loss,” Yasser al-Youssef of the Nureddin al-Zinki rebel group said. “For the revolution, it is a period of retreat and a difficult turning point.”
The army announcement came after state television said the last convoy of four buses carrying rebels and civilians had left east Aleppo and had arrived in the government-controlled Ramussa district south of the city.
Earlier, the Red Cross said more than 4,000 fighters had left rebel-held areas in the final stages of the evacuation.
The loss of east Aleppo is the biggest blow to Syria’s rebel movement in the nearly six-year conflict, which has killed more than 310,000 people.
It puts the government in control of the country’s five main cities: Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Damascus, and Latakia.
Syria’s conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011 but spiraled into a civil war after a brutal government crackdown on dissent.
It has drawn in proxy powers and attracted foreign jihadists, but successive attempts to negotiate a political solution to the conflict have failed.
Assad’s victory in Aleppo is a boon for his allies in Moscow and Tehran and a defeat for the opposition’s backers, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and some Western states.
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