Syrian Army retakes control Handarat Camp in northern Aleppo

 (AhlulBayt News Agency) - The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and Liwaa Al-Quds have announced the complete seizure of the Handarat Refugee Camp in northern Aleppo after a three-day long battle with Fatah Halab.

According to Liwaa Al-Quds, the Syrian Armed Forces captured most of the district after breaking through Fatah Halab's primary-line of defense, leaving only a small portion of the western neighborhoods under their control.

Not long after entering the western neighborhoods, the Syrian Armed Forces expelled the remaining members of Fatah Halab to the Shaqayf District, where they are now attacking the aforementioned Takfiri group.

The seizure of the Handarat Refugee Camp will now pave the way for the Syrian Armed Forces to attack the Kindi Hospital and Shaqayf District; these two sites have been under the control of the Takfiri rebels since late 2013.

Handarat’s liberation is of high significance to the Syrian army as it facilitates the return of thousands of displaced Palestinian refugees to their homes after over four years of violence in Aleppo.

The first recapture of Handarat came days after the Syrian army launched a major offensive to retake the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo, which have been controlled by Takfiri terrorists since 2012.

The operation began after a week-long ceasefire mediated by the United States and Russia expired on September 19.

Damascus, however, refused to extend it after US-led air raids killed 83 of its army forces and wounded some 100 others at a military base in the eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr in violation of the truce. The US-led strikes helped ISIS terrorists make a series of gains against army soldiers in the area.

On Thursday, Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, rejected US calls for a seven-day truce, saying such a pause in military operations would give militants enough time to regroup. Instead, he proposed a two-day ceasefire to facilitate the flow of relief aid into Aleppo.

Militants have suffered major setbacks over the past few months as the Syrian army, backed by Russian air cover, has managed to wrest control over several important areas across the country.

On September 25, Syria’s envoy to the United Nations Bashar al-Ja’afari told the UN Security Council that the country would not relinquish a single inch of its territory as per the Syrian constitution and the rules of international law.

“I would like to reassure them that the Syrian government will reclaim Aleppo in its entirety, and if the member states in this international organization have a single capital each, my country has two capitals: Damascus and Aleppo,” he said.



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