Analyst: Military Operation Only Way to Liberate Aleppo, End Siege of Fua'a, Kafraya

Rasa - A prominent Syrian political and military analyst underlined that military operation will be the only way to complete the liberation of Aleppo city and lift militants' siege on the towns of Fua'a and Kafraya in Idlib if terrorists continue to hindering implementation of the Aleppo ceasefire agreement.

News ID: 425868

Date: 18 December 2016 - 15:24

RNA - Zakaria Shohoud underscored that if the Aleppo agreement fails to materialize the Syrian government forces' objectives the only way to free Aleppo's neighborhoods and civilians of Fua'a and Kafraya will be the military option.

He further pointed out that the Syrian soldiers and their allies have managed to liberate almost the entire Aleppo, "and when these forces have liberated 99 percent of Aleppo's Eastern districts, they logically have no problem with liberating the remaining one percent."

The analyst said that Syria is now managing the crisis. Syria's decisions on war issues, including Aleppo, are made not just by Damascus, but based on the views of all its allies, including Iran and Russia, as well.

He further criticized the West's contradictory views about the battles in Mosul and Aleppo, and said, "Although these two battles are similar in their anti-terrorism nature and terrorists have used civilians as their human shield (in both battles), we witness a dual-track policy by the western countries towards them."

In relevant remarks earlier on Saturday, a security official of Aleppo operations room disclosed that evacuation of the militants from Eastern Aleppo came to a halt after the terrorists insisted on keeping the PoWs and played around with releasing the residents of Fua'a and Kafraya.

The security official reiterated that the lack of commitment by the remaining terrorists in Eastern Aleppo to the evacuation agreements was the main reason for halt to evacuation operation in the region.

The source noted that Fatah al-Sham Front (previously known as the al-Nusra Front) despite agreeing to set free the Syrian army's PoWs were refusing to do so and insist on taking the PoWs with themselves during evacuation from Eastern Aleppo.

The Syrian security source reiterated that the al-Nusra Front was also still shrugging off implementation of evacuation of the injured people from Fua'a and Kafraya in Idlib.

The source noted that after the al-Nusra hindered evacuation of residents of al-Fua'a and Kafraya, about 2,000 popular armed men moved to al-Ramouseh and prevent the exit of the remaining terrorists and their families from the region.

He said that over 3,000 residents of Fua'a and Kafraya need immediate medical care, adding, "Over 40 percent of the people injured in Fua'a and Kafraya are children."

The Syrian authorities and terrorist groups stationed in the Eastern parts of Aleppo reached an agreement on December 15 to evacuate militants from the region in return for relocating thousands of besieged civilians from Fua'a and Kafraya in Idlib to government-ruled territories.

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