PRESS RELEASE
Jihadi Resistance Collapses in North Aleppo
Nov. 28, 2016 (EIRNS)—The jihadi-controlled east Aleppo pocket is now 40% smaller than it was on Nov. 26. The jihadis apparently evacuated the northern section of the pocket, earlier today, in order to avoid being trapped in it after a 48-hour assault by the Syrian army and allied militias threatened to cut it in half. The Syrian army assault on the pocket, backed by the Palestinian Liwaa Al-Quds militia and the Lebanese Hezbollah, began 13 days ago, but the rapid series of advances that led to today’s result can be traced back to a series of Syrian army offensives on the northern section of the pocket from the north and the east, which led to district after district falling like dominoes, starting on Nov. 26.
One result of the unexpectedly fast collapse of jihadi resistance is that large numbers of civilians are now leaving east Aleppo. The Russian reconciliation center estimated, today, that some 80,000 people live in the liberated districts and that another 5,000 have been able to escape from the southern districts that are still controlled by the jihadis. The center said, earlier, that civilians were being cared for in aid camps where they receive medical treatment and food, and have sanitation. The center said it deployed an additional 150 field kitchens to distribute hot meals among civilians fleeing the embattled city. Both Al Masdar and RT are quoting individuals among these civilians accusing the jihadis of lying, of trying to prevent them from leaving, of denying them food and water and of using them for human shields.
In addition to the civilians, the Russian center reported that more than 100 militants laid down their arms and left eastern Aleppo through the special corridors set up for that purpose.
Another benefit of the liberation of the northern districts of east Aleppo is that residents of the entire city will now have reliable running water. Until today, the Suleiman Al-Halabi Water Pumping Station was under the control of the jihadis, who, according to Al Masdar, would frequently shut off the flow of water to western Aleppo in order to punish the people there for not supporting them. This will no longer be a problem.
The Western media is, not surprisingly, less than enthusiastic about the recent string of victories of the Syrian army.
"Signs that the dogged resistance to the Syrian Army and Russian air force in eastern Aleppo may be crumbling have started to appear as thousands of people fled to areas under government control, either due to starvation, the continued air assault or the advance of Syrian troops,"
reported the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour. The AP headline, "Syrian Army Aleppo Advance Displaces Thousands," says it all. The population of east Aleppo isn’t being liberated from the clutches of the jihadi terrorists, they claim, but, in AP’s view, the Syrian army’s advances
"set off a tide of displacement inside the divided city, with thousands of residents evacuating their premises, and threatened to cleave the opposition’s enclave."
