Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Terror of Aleppo ...
lashed out at the organization known as the "White Helmets" (var. Syrian Civil Defense), today, while speaking to Russian journalists in Damascus.
Assad heavily criticized the group to the Russian journalists, calling them ’terrorists’ and demanding that they surrender their weapons or face potential death.
"The fate of White Helmets will be the same as any other terrorist," Assad began, as quoted by Russia Today.
"They have two choices: to lay down their arms and use the amnesty we have offered over the last four or five years, or be killed like the other terrorists," Assad said.
The Syrian President has criticized the group for their ties to western governments and several rebel groups in Syria, despite non-partisan claims.
Recently, over 400 members of the White Helmets were evacuated from the southwestern region of Syria to the occupied Golan Heights by the Israeli military.
This move to evacuate the White Helmets from the Daraa and al-Quneitra governorates was reportedly planned by the U.S., Canadian, and British regimes, and coordinated with the Israeli military.