DAMASCUS, Feb 18 (NNN-SANA) – Following years of blind mortar shelling on its residential areas, Syrian northern city, Aleppo, becomes safe from shelling, after a wide-scale military operation.
After its liberation in 2016, the provincial capital of Aleppo remained subject to mortar shelling by the rebels in the western and northwestern countryside of Aleppo, which claimed the lives of many people.
Over the past two months, the Russian-backed Syrian army launched a wide-scale offensive in the countryside of Aleppo province and the countryside of the nearby Idlib province in northwestern Syria.
The army captured key areas in the countryside but most notably managed to secure much of the northwestern and western countryside of Aleppo, securing thus the vicinity of the provincial capital of Aleppo, and also opening the Damascus-Aleppo highway that has been cut- off by the rebels since 2012.
The Syrian army released a statement on Monday, saying that, dozens of villages and towns returned under government control as a result of the current military operation.
Addressing the military operation in Aleppo, Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, said Monday that, the recent victory of the Syrian army in Aleppo province is a prelude to the major defeat of the rebels elsewhere.
In a televised speech following the major victory of the Syrian army in the western and northwestern countryside of Aleppo, Assad said it does not mean the end of the war, nor the elimination of terrorism.
“But this victory is a prelude to the complete defeat (of the rebels and their backers) sooner or later,” Assad said.
By securing the western countryside of Aleppo, the International Airport of Aleppo will resume working on Wednesday (tomorrow), for the first time since 2012.– NNN-SANA
