The UK Special representative for Syria, Gareth Bayley, said that the Assad regime’s capture of Aleppo will not end the tragedy in Syria as its root cause is linked to meeting the demands of the Syrian people for the establishment of a political system that respects their aspirations .
It is crucial to keep in mind that the disaster in Syria started by the regime’s barbaric crackdown on peaceful protests in early 2011 and its release of terrorists from its prisons with the aim of discrediting the peaceful protests and deceiving the world, Bayley said. The Assad regime claims that it is fighting extremists, but these are the same extremists it let loose in 2011, he added.
Activists in Aleppo reported hearing several explosions near the points of evacuation of residents of eastern Aleppo at Friday noon. They said that the evacuation was halted due to insistence of the Iranian-backed militias to carry out field trials against residents of eastern Aleppo.
Bayley stressed the urgent need for the United Nations aid agencies and humanitarian organizations to provide all possible assistance to the displaced people of eastern Aleppo, especially in light of the harsh weather conditions in the city. Iran and Russia have to provide guarantees that the Assad regime will not detain civilians being transported out of Aleppo and allow international relief agencies to operate without any restrictions, he stressed.
Member of the Syrian Coalition’s political committee Hawass Khalil on Thursday said that the Assad regime’s alleged victory in Aleppo is a total disgrace as those who captured the city’s besieged neighborhoods are Iranian-backed foreign militias and mercenaries fighting under Russian areal cover, not Assad’s troops.
In an interview with Sobeida TV channel, Khalil pointed out that the battle for Aleppo has brought to the surface serious disputes and even conflicting interests between Russia and Iran, Assad’s staunchest allies, as to the control of the embattled city. He stressed that the invaders will eventually be forced to leave the city by the people of Aleppo. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Office of + Agencies)
