Governor of Syria’s Aleppo Calls on Militants to Take Advantage of Amnesty

The governor of the Syrian Aleppo province, Hussein Diab, called on militants operating in the eastern part of the Aleppo city to use the opportunity of amnesty, declared by President Bashar Assad.

ALEPPO (Sputnik) – The three-month amnesty was declared late July. On October 27, Assad prolonged amnesty for three months – until late January.

"There is still a chance for those, who resorted to arms against their brothers in our motherland … I advise you to take advantage of this offer [amnesty] that is a sign of the state’s care about its children," Diab said.

Syria's civil war between government forces and a wide range of insurgents, including opposition groups and terrorists, such as Islamic State and Jabhat Fatah al Sham, both outlawed in Russia, has raged for some five years and has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

Over recent months, Aleppo has been a battlefield between government forces, jihadists, and numerous opposition groups. Militant-held eastern Aleppo is encircled by government forces and the fighting has affected thousands of civilians still trapped in the city.