Syrian Army controls all of Aleppo - Last Rebels Evacuated - Polidicks

[quote][t]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2016/images/12/22/aleppo-final-gov-control.gif[/t]The Syrian army announced the country's second city Aleppo has been fully recaptured from rebel fighters, the government's biggest victory in the nearly six-year civil war. The last group of rebels and their families holed up in a small enclave in eastern Aleppo were evacuated on Thursday, under a deal that gives the army and its allies full control of the ancient city after years of fighting. "Thanks to the blood of our heroic martyrs, the heroic deeds and sacrifices of our armed forces and the allied forces, and the steadfastness of our people, the General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces announces the return of security and stability to Aleppo," said a military statement read by an army general on state television. The statement said the victory in Aleppo is a "strategic transformation and a turning point in the war on terrorism and a deadly blow to the terrorist project and its supporters". It is a further incentive, it added, to go on fighting to "eradicate terrorism and restore security and stability to every span of the homeland". It represents a momentous victory for President Bashar al-Assad and a crushing defeat for Syria's opposition. Western Aleppo erupted in celebratory gunfire seen on Syrian TV, which showed uniformed soldiers and civilians shouting slogans in support of Assad. The ancient city of Aleppo had been divided into rebel and government parts since 2012. The announcement came shortly after state television reported that the last convoy carrying rebels and civilians had left eastern Aleppo. "The last four buses carrying terrorists and their families arrived in Ramussa", a district south of Aleppo controlled by government forces, the channel said. Rebel evacuations were set in motion last week after Syria's opposition agreed to surrender its last footholds in eastern Aleppo. Since then, some 35,000 fighters and civilians have been bused out, according to the United Nations. Ahmed Qorra Ali, an official with the rebel group Ahrar al-Sham, confirmed "the last convoy has left the rebel-controlled area".[/quote] [url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/syria-government-recaptures-aleppo-161222184428465.html]Al Jazeera[/url]

Just in time for Christmas [IMG]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C0InwulWQAEaRtb.jpg[/IMG]

Back to Palmyra now, I guess?

okay i'm very ignorant to the civil war in Syria, but.... isn't the USA to blame for all this bloodshed - for funding the rebels that lost?

Is there really anything of worth in the city any longer or is it just ruins? In the latter case, it might have just been good for the rebels to retreat.

[QUOTE=RB33;51570700]Is there really anything of worth in the city any longer or is it just ruins? In the latter case, it might have just been good for the rebels to retreat.[/QUOTE] It's pretty much a reenactment of Stalingrad in terms of destruction. It'll take forever to rebuild, but for the people who had to put up with the rebels, I'd imagine that rebuilding will be the least of their worries. Not to mention that Russia is already donating supplies and construction equipment.

[QUOTE=sYnced;51570682]okay i'm very ignorant to the civil war in Syria, but.... isn't the USA to blame for all this bloodshed - for funding the rebels that lost?[/QUOTE] Well if we want to point fingers it really started when Assad started shooting protestors in the streets. The rebels where much more moderate back then but as time went on they either conceded and rejoined Assad's militia or became radicals. The Obama administrations idea of a democracy in Syria was pretty misguided I will say that.