"During the battle for [the Syrian city of] Aleppo they lost many commanders and fighters. These losses made terrorists leave Aleppo," Dehghan told the RT broadcaster.
The withdrawal of militants from Aleppo proved that they were unable to fight in the city anymore, the minister added.
Dehghan explained the Syrian army at the moment was in a much better shape in terms of morale, organization and training, adding that Russian military support had strengthened the Syrian army in its fight against militants.
On December 16, the Russian Defense Ministry's center for Syrian reconciliation said that the Syrian army operation to liberate the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo was over, and that the Syrian government troops were eliminating separate hotbeds of militant resistance. On December 23, Maj. Gen. Zaid Saleh, the head of Aleppo's security committee, told Sputnik that over 31,000 militants and members of their families had left eastern districts of Aleppo under the agreement with the Syrian government.
