US, Saudis Backing Terrorists to Break Aleppo Siege: Analyst
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A Lebanese political analyst denounced the attempts made by the US and Saudi Arabia to break the siege of Aleppo by intensifying support for the terrorist groups.
The US and Saudi Arabia are blatantly trying to break the Syrian army siege of Aleppo by supporting the al-Nusra Front and other al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups, Qaleb Qandil said in an interview with the Tasnim News Agency.
Pointing to deployment of thousands of heavily-armed fighters to Aleppo to break the siege, the analyst said such attempts have gone nowhere due to the Syrian army’s military capabilities and Russia’s aerial support.
Qandil also criticized Turkey for keeping its borders open for terrorists to enter Syria.
He said the decision to lay a siege on the city of Aleppo has been made at a trilateral meeting of defense ministers of Iran, Russia and Syria, held in Tehran.
The collective decision by the three allies will be definitely effectual, he added, expressing the confidence that Syrian troops will finally liberate the northern territories and reach the Turkish border.
The Syrian army, backed by voluntary forces, continues to liberate more territories near the city of Aleppo in a large-scale military offensive to recapture the strategic northern city from terrorist groups.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), currently controlling parts of it.
According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.