President Assad:

Western Forces Becoming 'Much Weaker' in Syria

Date: 06 November 2016 - 19:34

News ID: ۳۳۱۳۹

DAMASCUS (Press TV) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says Western powers are "becoming much weaker" in his conflict-ridden country as government forces, backed by fighters from allied popular defense groups, are gaining more ground in battles against foreign-backed terrorists.
"In the past, if I said anything, people would say the Syrian president is disconnected from reality. Now it is different. The West is becoming much weaker,” Assad said in an interview with the British weekly The Sunday Times published on Sunday.
The 51-year-old Syrian leader further questioned the role that the so-called U.S.-led military coalition is playing in the fight against Daesh extremists, saying, "They don't have a leg to stand on explaining to people what's going on. Daesh was smuggling oil and using Iraqi oilfields under American satellites and drones to make money, and the West was not saying anything.”
He then praised Russian airstrikes on the positions of Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria.
"What made the difference, of course, was firepower. They have firepower we don't have. At the end we were fighting an unlimited reserve of terrorists coming to Syria and we struggled, so Russian firepower and Iranian support has compensated,” Assad pointed out.
The Syrian president underlined that Russia is not interfering in Syria’s international affairs, and that Moscow is not looking for political deals with the Damascus government.
Al-Nusra Front is one of the weakening groups. The al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group, recently renamed to Fatah al-Sham Front, is on the verge of collapse in Syria after losing several high-ranking commanders in war or in defections, including the group's spokesman Mustafa Faraj.
Media outlets close to the dissident groups reported that Abu Suleiman al-Misri, nom de guerre Mustafa Faraj, who was a member of al-Nusra Front's council and responsible for interviews with foreign media, has defected the terrorist group after the death of scores of senior commanders in Syria in recent months.
The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which started in March 2011, has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, according to an estimate by United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.