The goal of regime downfall failed: Nasarallah

ALEPPO: Syrian soldiers sit by a fire in the former rebel-held Ansari district in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo yesterday. —AFP

ALEPPO: Syrian troops cemented their hold on Aleppo yesterday after retaking full control of the city, as residents anxious to return to their homes moved through its ruined streets. The army announced on Thursday it had recaptured the former rebel stronghold of east Aleppo following a landmark evacuation deal that saw thousands of opposition fighters and residents bussed out.

It was the biggest victory for President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in nearly six years of civil war and a major win for his foreign backers, with key ally Russia hailing the recapture as “very important” step. Braving the cold, war-weary residents crossed districts that had become infamous front lines, eager to return to neighbourhoods they had not seen in years. An AFP correspondent saw civilians wrapped in coats trekking through the cold, some rolling their belongings on wheelbarrows. “I came to check on my house, which I haven’t seen in five years,” resident Khaled Al-Masri said. “I really hope my home wasn’t badly damaged.”

The evacuation operation ended more than four years of ferocious fighting inside Aleppo, which had been divided between government forces in the west and rebels in the east. Opposition forces remain in control of areas west of Aleppo and yesterday at least two civilians were killed in the first wave of rebel rocket fire on the city since it fell under government control, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

‘Nothing left’

Seven civilians were also wounded in the fire on the Al-Hamdaniyeh district, the Britain-based monitor said, while state news agency SANA reported three killed. The evacuation agreement was brokered by rebel backer Turkey and regime supporter Russia, which said it would strive to end fighting across Syria. “The liberation of Aleppo from radical elements is a very important part of the normalisation in Syria, and I hope, for the region overall,” President Vladimir Putin said. “Everything needs to be done for fighting to stop on all Syrian territory,” Putin said. “In any case, we will strive toward this.” The Kremlin also announced that Putin had signed an order to expand Russia’s naval facility in the Syrian city of Tartus, and that it had dispatched military police to newly acquired territory in Aleppo. “We sent in a battalion of military police yesterday evening to maintain order in the liberated territories,” Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin.

Yesterday morning, government fighters moved into Ansari, Al- Mashhad, and other neighbourhoods they had not entered since mid-2012. They searched for improvised explosive devices and mines, clearing buildings in anticipation of civilians returning, the Observatory said. As they finished sweeping through the main streets, soldiers moved into the smaller alleyways to check for bombs, an AFP correspondent in one district said. In Bustan Al-Qasr, a heavily damaged neighbourhood near Aleppo’s famed old city, small bulldozers removed rubble from the streets. As the army moved through Al- Myassar district, Umm Abdo, 42, said she had found her former home but it had been destroyed. “There’s nothing left... but houses can be rebuilt,” she said. Syria’s war transformed Aleppo from the country’s industrial hub to a worldwide symbol of bloodshed and devastation. The army’s statement on Thursday announced “the return of security to Aleppo after its release from terrorism and terrorists, and the departure of those who stayed there”.

‘Toughest battles’

It came after state television said the last convoy of four buses carrying rebels and civilians had left east Aleppo and arrived in the government-controlled Ramussa district south of the city. The evacuation deal, overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Red Crescent, put an end to a month-long offensive waged on Aleppo’s east by pro-government forces. The assault was backed by pro-government militia, including powerful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah. In a televised speech yesterday, Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah said the army’s win in Aleppo put an end to any hopes Assad’s regime would collapse. “After Aleppo, one can comfortably say that the goal of regime downfall has failed,” Nasrallah said. He described the fight for Aleppo as “one of the toughest battles that the region has seen in years.” — AFP