Aleppo Residents Had Access to Medical Aid Throughout Conflict

Residents of Syrian Aleppo have had access to medical services throughout the conflict, despite the fact that some medical institutions had been captured by terrorists, Governor of Aleppo Hussein Diyab told Sputnik.

ALEPPO (Sputnik) — The evacuations from the city continue, with some 40,000 people, including militants, having already left the city since the beginning of a humanitarian operation a week ago. According to the United Nations, at least 300,000 Syrians have died since the beginning of the conflict.

"The provision of medical services continued at all times, despite the fact that the terrorists seized a number of medical institutions. Temporary alternative venues were set up for these institutions, so that they could continue to operate. Therefore, such medical services like vaccinations, emergency medical care and surgical care continued to be provided, and we have medicine, a supply of medicine which will last for several months," Diyab said.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting Syrian opposition groups striving to overthrow President Bashar Assad, and numerous extremist and terrorist groups such as the Jabhat Fatah al Sham and Daesh, both outlawed in Russia.

On December 16, the Russian Defense Ministry's center for Syrian reconciliation said that the Syrian army operation to liberate the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo was over, and that the Syrian government troops were eliminating separate hotbeds of militant resistance.