Aleppo bombing was justified

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the bombing of eastern Aleppo, which his forces recaptured from rebels last month, was justified. “This is the price sometimes, but at the end, the people are liberated from the terrorists,” he told to French media. Touching on the proposed talks in Astana, for which no date has been set, President Assad said his government was ready to negotiate on “everything”. Assad also claimed the rebels were breaching the ceasefire in and around Damascus, accusing them of depriving civilians of water by “occupying the main water source” from the Wadi Barada, a valley in the hills north-west of the capital that is the location of several springs.