Recapturing Aleppo from rebels will act as the springboard to “liberate” other areas of Syria and push “terrorists” back to Turkey, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad claims.
“It’s going to be the springboard, as a big city, to move to other areas, to liberate other areas from the terrorists. This is the importance of Aleppo now,” Assad said.
Aleppo has been the scene of fierce fighting between regime forces and rebels who have clung on in its besieged eastern portion. It has become a focal point in the 5-year Syrian civil war which, according to a United Nations estimate released earlier this year, already has cost around 400,000 lives.
The anti-government factions fighting for Alleppo — dubbed terrorists by Assad — include one-time al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham, previously known as the al Nusra Front. But also on the battlefield are members of several other groups that have been supported by the West, including Free Syrian Army fighters.
Kerry: Aleppo strikes should be probed as war crimes
The Syrian government — backed by Russian warplanes — has been pounding Aleppo with regular airstrikes.
As many as a quarter of a million people are trapped by the fighting in and around the city, where aid agencies say a mounting humanitarian crisis is worsening by the day.
The ongoing siege has prompted strong protests from a number of countries and groups who accuse Syria and Russia of war crimes against Aleppo’s beleaguered population.
Last week US Secretary of State John Kerry said Russian and Syrian military strikes against civilians and medical facilities in Aleppo should be investigated as war crimes.
“Russia and the (Syrian) regime owe the world more than an explanation about why they keep hitting hospitals and medical facilities and children and women,” Kerry said.
French President François Hollande and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson have also called for an International Criminal Court investigation into possible war crimes committed in the city by Russia and Syria.
Assad: There is no other option
But Assad insists that the Syrian government has no option but to press on with its offensive.
“… You have to clean. You have to keep cleaning this area and to push the terrorists to Turkey … to go back to where they come from, or to kill them.
“There’s no other option. But Aleppo is going to be a very important springboard to do this move,” he said.