In this Monday, Dec. 5, 2016 photo, a Syrian girl pushes a cart loaded with cooking gas canisters, in Aleppo, Syria. A rebel defeat in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and former commercial center, is likely to reverberate across the war-torn country, where opposition forces continue to hold out in smaller, more disconnected areas. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks to The Associated Press at the presidential palace in Damascus, Syria. (Syrian Presidency via AP, File)
Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, whose forces have recaptured all but a fifth of east Aleppo from rebels, has said victory in the city will be a “huge step” towards ending the war.
Rebels Lose Aleppo - An End in Sight for Syria War?
Assad intends to win Aleppo before Trump takes office.
President-elect Donald Trump is planning a major overhaul to US policy in Syria.
Fighting in and around Aleppo has generally subsided giving civilians much needed reprieve, but there have been reports of violations [Xinhua]
Russia has accused US-backed Syrian rebels of failing to hold their end of the bargain in a ceasefire which only began four days ago.
Major General Igor Konashenkov of the Russian military said in a statement from the Kremlin on Friday that he suspected Syrian rebels – namely Islamist armed groups – may not have the ability to comply with the tenets of the ceasefire agreement.
(ANTIWAR) The US policy of arming “moderate” rebel factions in Syria has a lot of problems, but none bigger than the Nour al-Din al-Zinki, a Free Syrian Army (FSA) linked group that’s been getting US aid for quite some time, and also grabbing headlines for a series of incidents.
(MEE) Five Russian soldiers were confirmed dead on Monday after their helicopter was shot down over the Syrian province of Idlib, as rebel groups continue to advance against Syrian government forces in the city of Aleppo.
The Russian defence ministry said that an Mi-8 transport helicopter was “shot down from the ground after delivering humanitarian aid to Aleppo”.
