Aleppo Residents 'No More Afraid of Being Killed' After Liberation of the City

Western media recently published several reports claiming that the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) was committing "atrocities" against the liberated people of Aleppo. In an interview with Sputnik France, humanitarian worker Pierre Le Corf, currently working in the city, revealed how the situation there actually looks like.

"I've read the reports that have been written on this subject (…) However, I've never heard somebody talking about it while I have been working here. I've heard about it in the media. I think it is difficult to verify the facts. Who is doing what — I don't know," Le Corf, the head of We Are Superheroes humanitarian organization, said.

Syrian forces with the help of Russian forces managed to create humanitarian corridors in the east of the city which were used by tens of thousands of civilians to leave the combat area and flee to the west.

"I would like to say that the people who live here [in the west], are happy. They are happy because they got tired of being afraid of being killed when they leave their homes or that their children will die on their way to school. Likewise, people who came here from the other side, they are happy to come here, because they know that there are no bombs here falling from the sky. The situation is quite dynamic, there is some confusion, but people who come here, feel free," Le Corf told Sputnik France.

Over recent months, Aleppo became a major battleground in Syria, engaging government forces and militants. Eastern Aleppo was encircled by government troops, and the fighting affected thousands of civilians trapped in the city. Internationally-mediated ceasefires collapsed as militants shelled and executed civilians attempting to leave the city.

On Tuesday, the Russian reconciliation center said that the Syrian government army controlled over 98 percent of the territory of Aleppo, with militants present in less than 3 square kilometers (1.1 square mile).

In an interview with Sputnik Mundo, journalist Leandro Albani, who worked in the Middle East, said that the liberation of Aleppo "is a serious blow to all terrorist groups, who have been active in Syria over the last four years."

At the same time, he however, noted that the truce in Aleppo (or in Syria in general) won't last long, because the terrorist groups are unable to engage in a dialogue and will never accept their defeat. Moreover, according to Albani, "the United States and its allies did their best to enable scattered terrorist groups to regroup."

"We'll see how the reconstruction work will be going on. We must bear in mind that many of the terrorists have fled, but some of them still continue their activities in Aleppo," he said.

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