Assad hails ‘historic’ defeat of rebels in Aleppo

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday congratulated Syrians on the “liberation” of Aleppo, hailing it as a historic moment, as civilians and fighters evacuated the last rebel pocket of the city.

In a video message posted on the Syrian presidency’s Telegram channel, Assad said the city’s “liberation” was “history in the making and worthy of more than the word ‘congratulations.'”

The last remaining rebels in eastern Aleppo as well as tens of thousands of civilians are currently being evacuated under a ceasefire deal reached with Russia, a close ally of Assad.

The rebel withdrawal began a month to the day after Assad’s forces launched a new offensive to recapture Aleppo and will hand the regime its biggest victory in more than five years of civil war.

A revived agreement on a ceasefire and the evacuations was announced on Thursday, after an initial plan for civilians and fighters to leave rebel-held parts of east Aleppo collapsed the previous day amid renewed clashes.

The evacuation began with a convoy of ambulances and buses crossing into a government-held district in southern Aleppo around 2:30 p.m. (12:30 GMT).

A Syrian military source told AFP that 951 evacuees, including 108 wounded, were in the convoy. Most were civilians but about 200 rebel fighters were among them, the source said.

The fall of Aleppo came amid an intense siege on the eastern part of the city and a series of diplomatic meetings between the US and Russia, as well as a tense Security Council meeting in which US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power asked the Russian envoy if his country knew no shame so as to defend the Assad regime against any international repercussions.

The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is more closely aligned with Russia’s position on the Syrian war. Trump had said during the campaign that the priority in Syria was to defeat the Islamic State group, a goal shared by Moscow as well as Damascus.

In an interview Wednesday, Assad said that Trump could be a “natural ally” should he follow through on a pledge to tackle terror.

If Trump can “really act against terrorism, I believe that he will be our natural ally and your natural ally,” Assad said in the interview broadcast on Wednesday.

But Assad also cast doubt on the president-elect’s sincerity and ability to do so now that he has won the election.

“Trump’s statements were clear during his campaign in relation to fighting terrorism, non-intervention against states in order to depose governments, as the United States has been doing for decades,” the Syrian president said. “This is good, but this depends on Trump’s will to carry on with this approach, and his ability to do that.”