Syrian Army’s Success in Aleppo Sparks New Round in 'Anti-Assad PR Campaign'

After long clashes and with massive support from the Russian Aerospace Forces the Syrian Army destroyed militants’ positions in southern Aleppo. The military also delivered an ultimatum for terrorists in the eastern part of the city. Rivals of President Bashar Assad responded with a massive media campaign.

Earlier on Friday, the Syrian army and militias retook control over Aleppo’s Ramuse region, secured and unblocked the southern entrance to the city. Terrorists were pushed to the nearby Sadkop oil storage facility.

Currently, engineering units of the Syrian Army are clearing the liberated areas of mines and shells. The area of the oil depots is the last defense line of the terrorists in Aleppo.

At the same time, the Syrian military delivered an ultimatum to terrorists in the eastern part of the city. Aircraft of the Syrian Air Force dropped leaflets calling for the terrorists to lay down arms.

The battle for Ramuse lasted for over 72 hours. Now, terrorists have lost their defense positions in southern Aleppo. During that time, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces attacked the area of the Khan-Tuman-Ramuse highway.

However, shortly after the Syrian Army took control over Ramuse reports of new chemical attacks appeared. The so-called Syrian moderate opposition accused both Damascus and Daesh of using chemical weapons. However, according to the Syrian government, chemical weapons have been used from positions of both moderate forces and al-Nusra Front.

Separating Syrian rebels from terrorists is one the most important step to resolving the Syrian crisis. This is also a serious obstacle for the United States and Russia to reach an agreement on Syria. However, no progress has been made, an article in the Russian online newspaper Vzglyad read.

"This is another part of the anti-Assad PR campaign. It looks like a new attempt to demonize the Syrian President. Washington still wants him to resign," the article read.

On August 24, the UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) published a report on at least two alleged cases of use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Army. According to the report, containers with chlorine gas were dropped from helicopters in Talmenes in April 2014 and Sarmin in March 2015. In addition, the report read that Daesh militants were involved in sulfur mustard gas attacks in Syria.

Russian Envoy to UN Vitaly Churkin commented that the information contained in the report could have been falsified.

"At this stage, we have a number of questions in regard to the conclusions of the JIM as for several incidents. The grounds for the conclusions contained herein cause significant doubts. They could have been falsified by forces opposing to the Official Damascus and terrorist structures, possibly with the foreign assistance," Churkin said.

"There is always the same logic: reports on chemical attacks come after the Syrian Army gains another victory against militants. Moreover, after such reports international pressure is mounted on Damascus and so-called moderate forces have time to take a breath," the article read.