Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told his troops on Wednesday they were close to winning the country's seven-year civil war after inflicting a succession of defeats on rebels.

Early last year, government forces held just 17 percent of national territory but a series of blistering offensives has since forced the rebels out of many of their strongholds, putting Assad's government in control of nearly two-thirds of the country.

"Our date with victory is near," Assad wrote in an open letter to the rank and file.

"They (the rebels) were ultimately forced to leave -- humiliated, rolled back, their tails between their legs -- after you gave them a taste of bitter defeat."

Much of the territory was recaptured without any ground fighting as the rebels reluctantly agreed to leave their bombed-out enclaves in Russian-protected convoys.

The army has been bolstered in its offensives by Russian air strikes, Iranian military advisers and militiamen from Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Government troops are now mopping up the remaining pockets of rebel and jihadist territory in the south, where the uprising against Assad first broke out in 2011.

Last week, Assad promised a similar offensive against the rebels' sole remaining major stronghold -- Idlib province in the northwest.

But his ally Moscow has ruled out any large-scale assault on the province in the near future.

Idlib is the last of four "de-escalation" zones agreed by world powers in 2017 where the rebels still have a major presence.

Rebels and civilians bussed out of the other three zones when they fell to the government were all taken to Idlib, increasing its population to around 2.5 million people.

A military operation in the province would cause mass displacement towards the border with Turkey, and even Russia has warned against an assault.

"There's currently no question and can be no question of an operation -- of a major assault -- on Idlib," Russia's Syria envoy Alexander Lavrentiev said on Tuesday.

Related Links
Space War News

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

UN envoy plans September talks on new Syria constitution
Geneva (AFP) July 31, 2018
The UN peace envoy for Syria said Tuesday that he plans to host Iran, Russia and Turkey for talks in September on finalising a committee to write a new Syrian constitution. Staffan de Mistura, whose past efforts to push forward a Syrian peace deal have achieved no breakthroughs, was tasked with setting up the committee during a Russian-backed congress held in Sochi in January. "The Special Envoy looks forward to holding formal consultations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federati ... read more