A SYRIAN government airplane successfully took off from the Aleppo International Airport on Friday, marking the first time in four years that any aircraft has taken off from its runways.
Friday’s flight in east Aleppo was a trial attempt before the Syrian government reopens Syria’s second largest airport. According to a government source, the Aleppo International Airport could be reopened to the public as early as February; however, it is contingent on the military situation in the province.
The reopening of the Aleppo International Airport would give Syria at least four functioning airports that are open to the public. The liberation of the Syrian city of Aleppo may lay the basis for the peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in Syria, Chief of Russia’s General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov said on Friday.
‘The successes of the Syrian armed forces for the liberation of Aleppo have created necessary conditions for the peaceful settlement of the conflict. This was vividly confirmed by the conclusion of an agreement on halting hostilities on the territory of Syria,’ the general said.
‘I’m confident that it will lay the basis for the political settlement of the conflict,’ the chief of Russia’s General Staff said. Commissioned by President Bashar al-Assad, Chief of the General Staff of the Army and Armed Forces General Ali Abdullah Ayoub visited on Friday the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov upon the end of its mission off the Syrian coast.
Delivering a speech on this occasion, General Ayoub noted that Admiral Kuznetsov has become an integral part of the war on terrorism, noting that victory is in sight thanks to the steadfastness of Syria’s people and the sacrifices of its army under the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad and the honourable and firm stance of Russia’s president, armed forces and people.
Speaking to the crew of the nuclear-powered cruiser ‘Pyotr Veliky’ (Peter the Great), General Ayoub stressed that the relationship between the Syrian and Russian armies is a firmly established one that is based on friendship, cooperation and defending human and moral values.
During a televised press conference with his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov, he affirmed the importance of the support which the Russian aerospace forces have provided to the Syrian armed forces in the course of the war against terrorism, highlighting the need to further develop military cooperation with Russia even after victory over terrorism is achieved.
For his part, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia Valery Gerasimov said it is the Syrian people and the Syrian armed forces that have had to bear the biggest challenges of the war against terrorism. He noted that reaching agreement on cessation of hostilities forms the pillar of the political solution to the crisis in Syria.
Later on, General Ayoub honoured a number of Russian officers after and toured the different departments of the aircraft carrier and the nuclear-powered cruiser and listened to an explanation of their combat capabilities.
Russian naval aviation pilots have performed 420 sorties and destroyed 1,252 terrorist facilities over the two months of the aircraft carrier naval group’s participation in the Syria operation, Commander of Russia’s Group of Forces in Syria Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov said on Friday.
‘Over the two months of their participation in combat operations, naval aviation pilots have carried out 420 sorties, including 117 in night time. Actually all flights were performed in complex weather conditions. A total of 1,252 terrorist facilities have been destroyed,’ he said.
The Northern Fleet’s aircraft carrier naval task force comprising the heavy aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, the heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy, the large anti-submarine warfare ship Severomorsk, and also the Black Sea Fleet’s warships and support vessels has been accomplishing missions since November 8, 2016 to fight terrorists in Syria, he said.
‘The strikes were delivered against infrastructure facilities, the amassments of militants and military hardware, fire emplacements and strongholds of illegal armed formations,’ the commander said. The Black Sea Fleet’s frigate Admiral Grigorovich staying in the Mediterranean Sea delivered a missile strike on November 15th, 2016 with Kalibr cruise missiles against facilities of the ISIL (the former name of the Islamic State terrorist organisation, outlawed in Russia) on the territory of Syria. All the targets were destroyed,’ he said.
The missions of delivering strikes against ground facilities directly from aboard warships were accomplished by deck-based aircraft for the first time in the history of the Russian Navy, the commander said. Meanwhile, 200 gunmen had their legal status settled in a number of villages and towns in the southwestern countryside of Damascus.
200 gunmen from Beit Saber, Beit Tima, Saasaa al-Gharbiyeh, Hassno and Kafar Hour in the western part of Damascus Countryside had turned themselves in and handed over their weapons to the authorities and pledged to not get involved in any act that might harm the homeland’s security in the future.
Chairman of the Local Reconciliation Committee in the countryside of Damascus and Daraa Mou’men Jarida said the region will be fully cleared of gunmen and arms so that the state establishments will operate normally again. He noted that local reconciliations will be soon launched in the southern and western countryside of Quneitra province and reach the southern countryside of Daraa province.
For his part, Chairman of the Military Security Department’s branch in Saasaa Brigadier General Osama Zahreddine said local reconciliations in these towns have been launched in implementation of the Syrian government’s policy of boosting Syrian-Syrian dialogue as a solution to the crisis.
He noted that around 1,200 gunmen are targeted through these reconciliations, highlighting the important location of Saasaa area as it will form a springboard for more local reconciliations and contribute to boosting confrontation with the terrorist organisations linked to the Israeli enemy in the coming stage.
Ministry of Justice said that legal files of more than 4,746 persons were settled during the past year in the framework of local reconciliations and in accordance with the laws in force and the Amnesty Decree No 15, particularly in the villages and towns of Damascus Countryside with the aim of evacuating them of weapons and gunmen in preparation for returning the state institutions to Damascus Countryside.
• A ship loaded with 500 tons of food aid provided by the government and people of the Republic of Kazakhstan arrived in Syria’s Tartous port last Friday. Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Jordan Azmat Berdibay said that the ship includes 500 tons of flour, canned meat, rice, pasta and tea, adding that the humanitarian aid was delivered to the port of Tartus with assistance from Russian Defence Ministry and will be distributed later in order to alleviate the suffering of Syrian citizens due to the current crisis.
In a press statement, Berdibay affirmed that his country supports the exerted efforts of the Syrian government and the international community to end the crisis via dialogue and reconciliation, hoping that the talks will continue in the future, within the framework of the Geneva conference under UN auspices to settle the situation in Syria through peaceful means.
For his part, Chief of Tartus Governorate Council Yasser Dib said that this humanitarian initiative by the government and the people of Kazakhstan came in the framework of supporting the steadfastness of Syrians, adding that the food aid will be distributed to the temporary housing centres in all areas.