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‘Victory is near,’ Syria’s Assad tells troops
DAMASCUS, Aug 1, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told
his troops on Wednesday they were close to winning the country’s seven-year
war after inflicting a succession of defeats on rebels.
Early last year, government forces held just 17 percent of national
territory but a series of blistering offensives has since forced the rebels
out of many of their strongholds, putting Assad’s government back in control
of nearly two-thirds of the country.
“Our date with victory is near,” Assad wrote in an open letter to the rank
and file.
“They (the rebels) were ultimately forced to leave — humiliated, rolled
back, their tails between their legs — after you gave them a taste of bitter
defeat.”
Much of the territory was recaptured without any ground fighting as the
rebels reluctantly agreed to leave their bombed out enclaves in Russian-
protected convoys.
The army has been bolstered in its offenisves by Russian air strikes,
Iranian military advisers and militiamen from Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Government troops are now moppinging up the remaining rebel pockets in the
south, and last week Assad promised a similar offensive against the rebels’
last major stronghold — Idlib province in the northwest.
BSS/AFP/MRI/1604 hrs