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In 2018, Syrian government troops eliminated 23,000 militants and liberated 387 settlements in Syria, Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov said during a briefing for foreign military attaches on December 5. He recalled the successful operations in Eastern Ghouta, Homs and southern Syria and added that more than 40,000 members of “moderate” opposition armed groups had surrendered and joined government forces. These fighters reportedly surrendered 650 units of weapons and military equipment to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).
The chief of the general staff also praised the role of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the warring parties, which carries out humanitarian operations across the country. According to General Gerasimov, over 230,000 people were evacuated via humanitarian corridors during the aforementioned operations.
He also addressed the situation in the US-controlled zone in northeastern Syria by saying that the situation there is getting worse.
“The situation on the eastern border of the Euphrates is deteriorating. The United States, falling back on Syrian Kurds, is trying to create a quasi-state formation there independent of the central government. They are already forming the government of the so-called Democratic Federation of Northern Syria. Americans support Kurds’ separatist aspirations by delivering weapons and military equipment to them, and they are thus allowing the opression of Arabic tribes by the Kurds”, he said adding that ISIS terrorists are now mostly concentrated on the eastern bank of the Euphrates.
“The United States is always telling us about some fight against Daesh [ISIS] in the east of Syria. But we are seeing the opposite. ‘Sleeping’ terrorist cells have become active and as a result, Daesh has begun expanding its zone of influence in the east of the country,“ the general stressed.
He added that Russian intelligence services “regularly register convoys of trucks carrying oil tankers, which move from Syria’s eastern regions, which are controlled by [the] coalition, to the territories of Turkey and Iraq … the funds from the sale of oil products are also being spent on financing terrorists belonging to ISIS.”
It should be noted that the US-led coalition has repeatedly denied and continues to deny that its actions are contributing to any kind of destabilization in Syria. The coalition also denies that the SDF consists of Kurdish armed groups more or less linked to the PKK as well as that ISIS cells are actively operating within its self-declared zone of responsibility. Over the past month, the coalition reports were mostly focused on covering its “fierce battle” against ISIS in the area of Hajin.
Most recently, the SDF media wing came up with a fresh report saying that 228 ISIS members were eliminated there during the last 3 days alone.
They also eliminated 500,000 Syrians and counting. All just to keep one dictator in power, Assad. In 5 years the number will be 1M Syrians dead and counting.
I sometimes try to see, what could have happend with no Russia support. It never should be like this.
Oh how is your Saudi, Egyptian and Gulf Monarch dictators doing lately, really can you western tolls kind of fuck off with your pathetic dictator routine. Stupid and pathetic hypocrite.
Article number 3 in a very biased Russian context.
Its totally forgotten, that USA is in Syria for removing or reducing Assads. Thats a great succes now.
Of course that should not be given to the oilthieves of Damaskus.
Its also ignored that Assads has many, many sleeping cells as big depotes of even hard weapons. Its also very difficult to see those many convoys to Turkey. The SDF capasity is very, very low.
If there was a big convoy having second class fuel in it, it only car be stored resserves, but of course Russoians worries about it. Assad has paid wiith it for Tanks and Food already as if Assads were owners of Syria.
And of course the PYD connection is as usual. But if so PKK sell crude-oil and fuel to Erdogan and for what RPGs and up :)
This sort of body count is largely irrelevant. It’s about legitimacy and popular acceptance of the government. If the Assad government had universal legitimacy among Syrians, then even with an influx of foreign mercenaries, killing 23,000 members of opposition groups would be unnecessary. If it had none, killing 23,000 members of opposition groups would have been utterly insufficient.
The 40,000 that switched sides are more important. If the government looks weak and illegitimate, nobody’s going to do that. If they felt the public was with them, they would have melted away to fight another day rather than surrender and join up. Clearly they saw writing on a wall: The people are not on their side (even ones whose support of Assad as such is distinctly lukewarm), they cannot melt away into the population, and there will be no “other day”. And maybe they themselves were disaffected with the cause they’d been fighting for.
Congratulations to the SAA and their allies. Now they have some breathing-space they can move ahead calmly and effectivly.
Let us see this numbers……23,000 terrorists eliminated out of ¿ how many ? ¿ 200,00 ? ¿ who knows this number ?