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According to Deputy Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, the so-called 'moderate opposition' lays explosives in the humanitarian corridors, created for the exit of civilians from the city.
During a briefing Deputy Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov told about actions of the so-called 'moderate opposition' in
Aleppo. According to Antonov, it is known that
terrorists in every way impede the exit of civilians from the occupied districts of the largest Syrian city - they lay explosives in the humanitarian corridors, created for the exit of civilians from the city, and spread misinformation, saying that allegedly Bashar al-Assad's troops have done this.
"Twice, on September 15 and on September 16, units of the Syrian Army began to withdraw troops from the Castello Road. However, the US could not organize a withdrawal of armed opposition groups from the Castello Road, and units of the government forces returned to their initial positions. We opened seven checkpoints for the exit of civilian population and a corridor for the exit of terrorists with weapons. However, the so-called 'opposition' mined all the passages for the exit from Aleppo and organized repressions against citizens, trying to leave the city. Moreover, battlefield commanders of opposition units have refused to allow the UN humanitarian convoy, which was heading to the eastern part of Aleppo, to enter the city," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted the words of Antonov.
According to conservative estimates, not less than 300,000 citizens remain in the eastern neighborhoods of the Syrian city, occupied by terrorists of various groups. Civilians are in the situation of a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe, as terrorists continue not only to fight against
Syrian troops, but also use civilians as human shields.
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After a year and a half covering the war, on the ground and with the troops, Pavlov and Filatov share the strange and unique features they saw:
- Terror warfare pits large numbers of lone-wolf attackers and relatively small groups of terrorists against all of the conventional and guerrilla targets, but the terrorists only fight the army when they need to - the main target is the civilian population.
- The main goal is not to take territory, but to create chaos and completely destroy the country, including its government, institutions, and economy.
- Terrorists' mobility and camouflage is much higher than guerrillas, as they can fully mingle with civilian populations.
- Unlike guerrillas, they do not need the support of the local population. Local civilians are either killed, enslaved, or subjugated.
- They have no classic command and control centers - those are mostly abroad and not essential. Terrorist groups and individuals can and do operate without a strict military hierarchy. (But offensives like the recent on on western Aleppo do require some coordination.)
- Their number of potential targets in the country is equal to the number of its civilians, not to mention any physical structure. Thus, because it is impossible to defend everything, attacks are nearly impossible to prevent.
A new kind of war: Russian journalist and war expert on what they learned in Syria
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