According to Tuesday’s reports, the city of Aleppo  which was ruled by the rebels has fallen to the Syrian government’s control, and the opposition fighters will be evacuated on buses together with the residents who remain in the ruins that used to be Syria’s second largest city.

The ceasefire agreement, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey, will empty Aleppo of Bashar Assad’s opponents, and the Syrian president will be able to declare that he has gained control of Syria’s economic capital after three and a half years of fighting.

Assad and his partners in the country’s civil war scored a major military and morale achievement once the battle for Aleppo was decided.

But the battle for Syria is far from being over, and it will continue a long time from now. The reason is the rebels’ refusal to give in, and the fact that the Syrian army is not well-prepared to remain in the areas it has occupied for long. The defection and draft-dodging phenomena, as well as the many casualties, have caused the army to shrink to about half of its size from the eve of the civil war. The number of maneuvering units, armored, infantry and engineering forces, has been reduced as well.

Read the full article at YNet.