As the last of the war-ravaged refugees and rebel fighters left Aleppo on Thursday, Syrian government troops took control of the city for the first time in four years.
Syrian state TV made the announcement during after the final four buses carrying opposition fighters exited through the checkpoints at Ramousseh crossing as it showed uniformed soldiers and civilians in western Aleppo shouting support for President Bashar Assad as celebratory gunfire crackled in the background.
“Thanks to the blood of our heroic martyrs, the heroic deeds and sacrifices of our armed forces and the allied forces, and the steadfastness of our people, the General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces announces the return of security and stability to Aleppo,” said the statement read by an army general.
The statement went on to say the taking of the ancient city of Aleppo is a “strategic transformation and a turning point in the war on terrorism and a deadly blow to the terrorist project and its supporters.”
Assad, whose military has been battling rebels in the the country since 2011 and in Aleppo since 2012, said his troops’ success represent a “major step on the road to wiping out terrorism” and should bring about the end of the civil war.
The evacuations began last week after opposition forces agreed to surrender their last footholds in eastern Aleppo following a cease-fire brokered by Russia, which supported the Assad regime since last year with air strikes, and Turkey, which backed some of the rebel fighters.
The fall of Aleppo now gives the government control of the country’s five main cities with Homs, Hama, Damascus and Latakia.
More than 310,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
With Post Wires