Assad predicts victory after gains
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian President Bashar Assad congratulated his forces Monday for recent gains in northwestern Syria that led to his troops consolidating control over Aleppo province, pledging to press ahead with a military campaign to achieve complete victory “sooner or later.”
Mr. Assad, who rarely appears in public, said in a televised address that the onetime economic hub of Aleppo, the provincial capital, will “return stronger than it was before.”
“This liberation does not mean the end of the war, and does not mean the end of the schemes nor the end of terrorism or the surrender of enemies,” said Mr. Assad, seated behind an empty wooden desk and wearing glasses. “But it means that we rubbed their noses in the dirt as a prelude for complete victory and ahead of their defeat, sooner or later.”
The address came amid an ongoing military advance in northwestern Syria that has sparked a humanitarian catastrophe that the U.N.’s humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock, warned “has reached a horrifying level.” In a statement, he said the U.N. believes 900,000 people have been displaced since Dec. 1, most of them women and children.
In the past few weeks, government troops backed by Russian air power have captured more than 580 square miles in the northwest, consolidating their hold over Aleppo province after capturing over 30 villages and hamlets in the western countryside in a single day Sunday. The advance secured the provincial capital that had for years remained within range of opposition fire.
The new gains, along with securing a key highway through rebel territory, are set to better link northern and southern Syria, including the city of Aleppo, which was Syria’s commercial center before the war. The highway, known as the M5, links the country’s four largest cities and population centers and is key to controlling Syria.
The developments sparked late-night celebrations in the streets of Aleppo that continued through Monday, with state media showing residents waving flags and dancing in roads packed with vehicles.
“We should not rest, but continue to prepare for the coming battles, and therefore the battle of liberating Aleppo countryside and Idlib will continue, despite the empty noise that is coming from the north [Turkey],” Mr. Assad said.
Mr. Lowcock said “the crisis in northwest Syria has reached a horrifying level,” calling the violence “indiscriminate” and stressing that “the only option is a cease-fire.”
He warned that “the biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st century will be avoided only if Security Council members, and those with influence, overcome individual interests and put a collective stake in humanity first.”
The government’s rapid advances have sparked rare clashes between Syria and Turkey, which backs the rebels and has troops in the region to monitor a 2018 cease-fire deal. Turkey’s president warned Mr. Assad to halt the advance, which also risks shattering an alliance forged between Turkey and Russia.
Turkey, which backs the opposition, has sent thousands of troops and equipment into the opposition enclave, to try to stall the Syrian government’s advance. Ankara has also called for an end to the Syrian government offensive. Already home to more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees, Turkey fears a new wave of them may overwhelm its borders.
A Turkish delegation was in Moscow on Monday to discuss the crisis, and Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said the delegations would continue talking Tuesday.
In late 2016, Syrian rebels were driven out of the provincial capital’s eastern quarters, which they had controlled for years while battling government forces in charge of the western section. However, rebel groups continued to target government forces from outside the city with mortar rounds. They also controlled large parts of western rural Aleppo province, territories that linked them to Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold.
Gen. Ali May houb, spokesman for the Syrian Armed Forces, said in a televised speech that government troops were continuing their ground advances to “eradicate what is left of terrorist groups,” and he congratulated the soldiers for the swift advances in “record time.”
Support from Russia and Iran has enabled Syrian troops to regain control of much of the territory they had lost to armed groups trying to topple Mr. Assad.
Over 400,000 people have been killed and half of Syria’s population displaced since peaceful protests in 2011 turned into a civil war.