DAMASCUS, Syria (Reuters) — Syria’s Minister of Reconciliation Ali Haidar said Wednesday in Damascus that the victory of the Syrian army in the northern city of Aleppo is a “strategic and qualitative” one.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with China’s special envoy to Syria, Xie Xiaoyan, Haidar said that the Syrian army’s recent sweeping victories in the city will have a huge impact politically and militarily.
“The victory in Aleppo is a strategic and qualitative one and will change the way for political settlement. Now the international community has to discuss what can provide to Syrian people and sending humanitarian aid to Syria through the government,” said Haider.
When asked about reports that the U.S. House of Representatives passed a defense bill last week that authorized President-elect Donald Trump to send shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to the Syrian rebel group, Haider said that the bill will not affect the Syrian government’s operation.
“They passed the bill a little late. The bill is to cover weapons they provided before. They passed the bill to give a legitimate reason for their previous acts. This will not affect anything in the battlefield,” said Haider.
Haider’s remarks came as the Syrian army controls over 80 percent of the rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo.
The army unleashed its offensive two weeks ago against those areas as part of the major offensive launched recently to liberate the eastern part of the city from any rebel presence.
Over 30,000 civilians have fled eastern Aleppo over the past two weeks toward government-controlled areas in the western part of the city. The rebels captured eastern Aleppo in 2012.
Humanitarian organizations sounded the alarm about the 250,000 people still living in the conflict areas of eastern Aleppo, with the government promising to fix the situation of those who have relocated to government-controlled areas.