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Executive Summary for December 23rd

We review the key developments in Syria, including the government’s announcement that it has full control of Aleppo while exiting rebels shell the city, the death of 88 civilians by Turkish airstrikes and Russia’s confirmation that it is testing weapons in the region.

Published on Dec. 23, 2016 Read time Approx. 3 minutes

Government Claims Control of Aleppo, Rebels Shell City After Leaving

The Syrian government announced its complete control of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported.

“Thanks to the blood of our heroic martyrs, the heroic deeds and sacrifices of our armed forces and the allied forces, and the steadfastness of our people, the General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces announces the return of security and stability to Aleppo,” said a military statement aired on Syrian state TV.

Aleppo had been divided between a rebel-held east and government-held west since 2012. Last month, a government offensive backed by Russia and Iran collapsed rebel defenses. Tens of thousands of people in eastern Aleppo were forcibly displaced following intense bombardment and several failed cease-fires.

The government’s victory in Aleppo is a “strategic transformation and a turning point in the war on terrorism and a deadly blow to the terrorist project and its supporters,” the statement said.

Nearly 35,000 fighters and civilians were evacuated from former rebel districts in Aleppo city to opposition-held territories in the Aleppo countryside and neighboring Idleb province, according to the U.N.

“The last four buses carrying terrorists and their families arrived in Ramussa,” said the statement, referencing a government-controlled district evacuees were ferried to. The Syrian government refers to all opposition forces with the blanket term “terrorist.”

“The last convoy has left the rebel-controlled area,” confirmed Ahmed Qorra Ali, a rebel official with the hardline Salafist group Ahrar al-Sham.

Following their withdrawal, rebels shelled Aleppo city on Friday, killing three people, Reuters reported.

88 Civilians Killed in Turkish Airstrikes on Northern Town

Turkish airstrikes on northern Syria reportedly killed 88 civilians in the last 24 hours, AFP reported.

At least 21 children were killed in the air raids on the northern town of al-Bab, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Turkish forces and their Syrian rebel allies have been fighting to oust ISIS from al-Bab, 16 miles (25km) away from the border, for several weeks. An ISIS video released on Thursday depicted two Turkish soldiers being burned alive.

Another 17 civilians were killed in continued bombing of al-Bab on Friday. Turkish troops entered Syria in August with the goal of pushing back the so-called Islamic State from the border in addition to thwarting Kurdish gains in the region.

U.S. Says Russia Is Using Syrian Presence to Test Weapons. Russia Agrees

Russia is using its military intervention in Syria as a “live-fire training opportunity,” according to the U.S. Army, BBC News has reported. Russian defense minister Sergey Shoigu went some way to confirming that accusation on Thursday. “During the operation in Syria, 162 advanced and upgraded weapons have been tested in combat. They have proven to be highly efficient,” the state-run news agency Russia Today reported him saying.

Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations of using heavy weapons on civilian areas, but Shoigu’s statement confirms they are using their presence in Syria to test weapons, a criticism levied by the U.S. Army’s most senior office in Europe.

Russia’s “disregard for civilian casualties … is not the conduct of a nation that wants to be treated like a superpower,” said Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges. “What we see in Syria, of course, is a demonstration of capabilities and using weapons that are not necessary.”

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