Rebels cite weak Assad army, economic woes for Russian pullout

By Mohamed Misto

ALEPPO, Syria

Syrian opposition leaders believe that a Russian decision to pull out forces from Syria was prompted by the poor performance of regime forces and the economic burdens of the Russian military involvement in the conflict.

In a surprise announcement on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria.

Russia began airstrikes against opponents of Bashar al-Assad in September, in a move Moscow claims aims to combat terrorism.

“Russia is upset with the poor performance of the [Syrian] regime army on the ground,” Abu Yusuf al-Muhajir, spokesman for the Ahrar al-Sham group, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.

He said that Moscow “cannot continue its military operations endlessly.”

“[This involvement] creates major economic burdens, let alone the human losses,” he said.

Al-Muhajir noted that the scale of Russian airstrikes has gone down since a cessation-of-hostilities agreement between the regime and opposition forces came into effect late February.

“I believe that the Russian airstrikes will come to an end within a year, unless in certain cases,” he said. “Russia is economically exhausted and cannot continue in this war.”

Al-Muhajir believes that Iran – a main backer of the Assad regime – will now come to the forefront after the Russian withdrawal.

“The majority of funds withdrawn by Iran after the lifting of the [UN] sanctions will now be used to fund militias in Syria for killing civilians,” he claimed.

- Easing pressure

Opposition commander Abu Ayham al-Eger, for his part, cast doubts on the Russian decision to pull out forces from Syria.

“Russia did not announce halting its military support for the regime, meaning that it has not abandoned it,” he told Anadolu Agency.

He described the Russian pullout as an attempt to ease international pressure and threats by a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in the Syrian conflict.

Mohamed al-Ahmad, another opposition leader, cited differences between Russia, on one hand, and the Syrian regime and its Iranian allies on the other for the Russian pullout.

“The Russian decision to intervene to save the Syrian regime was a mistake in the first place,” he said. “Moscow has taken all what it wants. It does not care about Assad anymore.”

The opposition leader predicted that the Iranian support for the Assad regime will not continue.

“Tehran is now confident that the Assad regime is over and that any Iranian support for it will invite more anger from the Arab and Islamic countries,” he said.