DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad is congratulating his troops for consolidating control over the northern province of Aleppo. In a televised address, he pledged to press ahead with a military campaign to achieve complete victory. He pledged that the onetime economic hub of Aleppo will “return stronger than it was before.” His address came hours after troops consolidated the government’s hold over the province, capturing more than 30 villages and hamlets in the western countryside in one day and securing the provincial capital that had for years remained within range of opposition fire. Since December, the offensive has displaced over 800,000 people in the shrinking rebel enclave in one of the worst humanitarian crises since the war began nine years ago.
