Aleppo residents celebrate full liberation from militants

The residents of Aleppo have taken to the Syrian city’s streets to celebrate the imminent official announcement of the city’s full liberation from militants.   

According to Syrian army officials on Monday, 99 percent of the formerly occupied regions of the city have been recovered by government forces, adding that the army is in the “last moments before declaring victory.”   

Less than a month ago, the Syrian army started a wholesale push to drive the militants out of their stronghold in the city’s eastern side, making great strides in the process.

Aleppo’s complete liberation from the foreign-backed militants would mark a significant victory for Syria in its nearly six-year-long campaign against foreign-backed militants. The liberation of Aleppo would deny the militants their main supply routes across the Turkish border while it would hugely undermine the morale of the militant groups.

Since March 2011, Syria has been hit by militancy it blames on some Western states and their regional allies. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and UN have put the death toll from the Syria conflict at more than 300,000 and 400,000, respectively. This is while the UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.