Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with French media that his forces are on the road to victory after recapturing the key city of Aleppo last month.
"We don't consider it (retaking Aleppo from the rebels) as a victory. The victory will be when you get rid of all the terrorists," Assad said in the interview with France Info, LCP and RTL television.
"But it's a tipping point in the course of the war and it is on the way to victory," he said in excerpts provided by RTL.
Asked about heavy bombing raids that ravaged the city and claimed large numbers of civilian lives, Assad said: "But you have to liberate, and this is the price sometimes."
"But at the end, the people are liberated from the terrorists," the Daily Mail cited him as saying.
