According to him, the settlements of Khan el-Shiekh and Al-Tall in the suburbs of Damascus, previously controlled by militants, are completely freed from armed groups.
"In Idlib 5,744 people have been evacuated, including 3,674 militants and members of their families; 3,624 people who wanted to return to civilian life were pardoned," Gerasimov said.
Following the liberation of Al-Tal in #Damascus, thousands of townspeople today salute those who freed them from terrorism: The Syrian Army. pic.twitter.com/CqQ8ZkHGfN
— Sarah Abdallah (@sahouraxo) December 10, 2016
He added that the Russian military delivered more than a thousand tons of humanitarian aid to Syria since the beginning of the year.
"We continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Syria. Since the beginning of 2016 we have delivered more than one thousand tons of food and medical supplies" Gerasimov said during a briefing for foreign military attaches' accredited in the Russian Federation.
He also noted that field hospital experts and a demining unit of Russia’s Defense Ministry had started their work in Aleppo.
“At the same time, the actions of the so called-moderate opposition kill civilians every day, destroy infrastructure, they [terrorists] are targeting schools and hospitals, local residents are used by the terrorists as human shields,” Gerasimov noted.
On December 5, the Russian mobile military hospital in Aleppo was shelled in breach of the international humanitarian law, and two military medics were killed and another was wounded, the chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff stressed.
Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting Syrian opposition groups striving to overthrow the president. Damascus is also fighting numerous extremist and terrorist groups such as the Jabhat Fatah al Sham and the Islamic State, both outlawed in Russia. According to the United Nations, at least 300,000 Syrians have died since the beginning of the conflict.
#Russia distributing aid to displaced Syrians in Rif Damascus. But the EU/US want you to believe this is just a figment of your imagination. pic.twitter.com/71oBKibNHt
— Sarah Abdallah (@sahouraxo) December 8, 2016
