Assad calls for 'cleaning' of war-torn Aleppo

"You have to keep cleaning this area and to push the terrorists to Turkey to go back to where they come from, or to kill them," said Assad in an interview with Russian TV station Komsomolskaya Pravda, aired on Thursday.

Assad also acknowledged the strategic importance of Aleppo in Syria’s ongoing conflict stating that he viewed military victory in the city as a “springboard” towards winning the war.

"It's going to be the springboard, as a big city, to move to other areas, to liberate other areas from the terrorists. This is the importance of Aleppo now," Assad said.

The decimation of east Aleppo

Since a US-Russian brokered ceasefire collapsed on September 19 rebel-held districts in east Aleppo, which are surrounded by pro-regime forces on the ground, have faced a relentless siege from Syrian and Russian warplanes during which cluster munitions, bunker busting bombs, white phosphorus, and even naval mines are said to have been used.

Hospitals have been targeted in airstrikes and according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights more than 350 civilians have been killed.

More than 250,00 people are currently trapped in the area, and earlier this week amid growing global outrage European Union foreign ministers drafted a statement accusing Syria and its allies of actions that “may amount to war crimes” in the city.

Observers have predicted that Aleppo could fall within a matter of weeks, while the UN has warned that if bombardment of the city continues at its current pace it could be “totally destroyed” by the end of the year.

Russia to the rescue

However speaking to Komsomolskaya Pravda, Assad presented a different vision of current developments in Aleppo, and wider Syria, accusing the United States of supporting terrorism in the war-torn country in order to maintain regional “hegemony” in the Middle East, comparing Moscow and Washington’s current face-off over Syria as “similar to the Cold War”.

“We are seeing an escalation of the conflict, but the main goal is to preserve American hegemony over the world, not to let anyone be a partner in the political or international arena, be it Russia or its allies in the West,” said Assad.

Since Russia began its military intervention in Syria in September 2015 the Syrian regime has turned the tables on the opposition, gaining decisive military victories and taking back territory previously lost over the course of the conflict, now in its sixth year.

However, at one stage during the interview, Assad faced questions from his host, as to why the Syrian President had not made military conscription compulsory on all those able-bodied in order to commit more troops to battle. In a blatant revelation of Komsomolskaya Pravda’s pro-regime editorial slant Assad was presented the question:

“(When) I see Damascus cafes filled with young men who drink coffee in the in the morning I ask myself: Who are these young men? … When I see fitness centres with young men with inflated muscles. What are they doing here? Send them all to the front! I do not understand why there is no general mobilisation to the front, like we did in the Great Patriotic War."

In response Assad stated simply that full mobilisation would result in the “paralysis of the country” going on to add that Russian intervention had “changed the balance of forces” against the Syrian opposition, referred to as “terrorists”.

Over 400,000 people have died in Syria’s war, while a further five million have become refugees. Human rights groups say that pro-regime forces are responsible for the majority of civilian deaths in the conflict.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are set to meet in Switzerland in order to resume efforts aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to Syria’s conflict and a cessation to hostilities, with a particular focus on ending ongoing violence in Aleppo.