Aleppo fall means efforts to oust Assad 'failed'

The Syrian army's recapture of Aleppo has put an end to hopes that President Bashar al-Assad's regime could be ousted, the head of Lebanon's powerful Shia movement Hezbollah said yesterday.

"After Aleppo, one can comfortably say that the goal of regime downfall has failed," Hassan Nasrallah, whose Shiite party has fought alongside Assad's forces since 2013, said in a televised address.

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"Because the regime has Damascus and Aleppo -- the two biggest cities in Syria -- and Homs, Hama, Latakia, Tartus, Sweida... this regime is present, strong, effective, and no one in the world can ignore it," Nasrallah said.

More than 310,000 people have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since the conflict broke out in March 2011 with protests calling for Assad's ouster.

Syria's army on Thursday declared its full control over second city Aleppo, where Hezbollah fighters played a key role in the government's advance.

"What happened in Aleppo over these past long months... was a real war, one of the toughest battles that Syria has seen, and one of the toughest battles that the region has seen in years," Nasrallah said.

He described the Syrian government's win there as "a big victory for the side confronting terrorism".