PHOTO: Rebels arrive in western Aleppo Province on Thursday (AFP)

LATEST

FRIDAY FEATURE

Analysis: How Assad Regime and Supporters Spread the “14 Foreign Spies in Aleppo” Deception

UPDATE 1500 GMT: An aid worker describes the scene amid the removals from east Aleppo:

You have this chaotic picture of families and children and then you see a group of people next to them lighting a fire. They were throwing their blankets in the fire to warm up. They were sometimes throwing their clothes in the fire.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: After 10 days punctuated by delays and tension, the removal of civilians and rebels from opposition areas of Syria’s largest city Aleppo was completed on Friday.

Tens of thousands of people were transported, initially to western Aleppo Province and then to opposition-held Idlib Province. The process was initially blocked and later interrupted by Iranian objections, including shelling and gunfire by Iranian-led and pro-Assad militias on a convoy and on the districts. Jund al-Aqsa, a faction linked to the jihadist Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, and local men also burnt a convoy which was pickup people from the regime enclaves of al-Fu’ah and Kafraya in Idlib Province.

After Turkey and Russia — whose collaboration fostered the removals deal — brokered a third deal last weekend, the transports were still hindered by freezing temperatures and snow, raising concern for up to 5,000 people at the staging area in eastern Aleppo city. However, the final convoys began moving on Wednesday.

“It’s done. The evacuation process has ended and the last bus has come out,” said Ahmad al-Dbis, a medical aid worker leading a team removing patients from Aleppo.

The removals now move to a stage linking the completion of the movement of 4,000 people from al-Fu’ah and Kafraya with the transport of 1,500 wounded from the opposition towns of Zabadani and Madaya in Damascus Province.

Pro-Assad forces moved into the last opposition districts of Aleppo on Friday. An unknown number of people have stayed behind, either unable to move or accepting the re-occupation of the area, held by the opposition since July 2012.

The regime military announced:

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….

[This is a] strategic transformation and a turning point in the war on terrorism and a deadly blow to the terrorist project and its supporters.

Videos: Pro-Opposition Protests Across Syria Call for Rebel Unity

Rallies across Syria have called for rebel unity in the face of advances by pro-Assad forces.

Atareb in Aleppo Province:

Saqba in Damascus Province:

Putin Orders Expansion of Russian Naval Base

President Vladimir Putin has ordered the expansion of Russia’s naval facility in Tartous in western Syria on the Mediterranean.

The Defense ministry said in October that Moscow was going to transform the Tartous facility into a permanent base. In the same month,
Putin approved a law ratifying Moscow’s deal with Damascus to deploy its forces in the country indefinitely.

Established with an agreement between Soviet Union and Syria in 1971, the Tartous base is currently inadequate to serve the Russian Navy’s most advanced warships.

Battle Surges Near Al-Bab as ISIS Burns Turkish Soldiers

Fighting continues to surge near the ISIS-held town of al-Bab in Aleppo Province, with the Islamic State displaying its burning of Turkish soldiers and Turkish warplanes killing dozens of people.

The Turkish-rebel offensive to take the town, ISIS’s last major position in the province, was renewed on offensive. But after initial gains, the attacks were repelled and the Islamic State regained lost territory.

As the Turkish military acknowledged the loss of 16 troops — its heaviest one-day loss since Ankara’s intervention alongside rebels on August 24 — ISIS put out a video showing two Turkish soldiers being burnt alive.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asserted that 200 Islamic State fighters were killed on Wednesday, while the Defense Minister said the group had suffered 1,005 deaths since late August.

Meanwhile, the Local Coordination Committees said it had documented 64 deaths in Aleppo Province on Thursday, “most of them” from the Turkish aerial attacks on al-Bab.

The LCC did not specify how many of the casualties were civilians, but it focuses on civilian deaths in Syria’s conflict.

Footage of the aftermath of the airstrikes, including the digging of a child from the rubble (Warning — Graphic Images):

Claim: Regime Ultimatum to Kurdish Militia YPG to Give Up Aleppo Positions

The Assad regime has demanded Kurdish forces hand over control of the Sheikh Maqsoud district in Aleppo city by December 31, according to the Iraqi Kurdish outlet Rudaw.

Ali Maqsud, a military analyst who is close to President Assad, told Rudaw that the Syrian Army will demand the handover of YPG positions. He said regime officials have met Kurdish leaders over the issue.

Throughout this year, the YPG have clashed with rebels in neighboring districts. During the pro-Assad advance into eastern Aleppo city, the Kurdish militia took over some rebel positions.

Sheikh Maqsoud has taken in more than 10,000 civilians who fled the pro-Assad offensive.