The battle for Aleppo is officially over.

Having concluded the evacuation of rebels from their last enclave in the eastern part of the city, the Syrian army said Aleppo has returned to government control, ending the 4-year rebel control over parts of the city that years ago was the largest metropolitan center in Syria and is now a landscape out of Call of Duty. The evacuees have been taken to rebel-held territory in the countryside west of Aleppo and in Idlib province.



In a statement on Syrian TV, the army announced the "return of security to Aleppo after its release from terrorism and terrorists".

Regaining Aleppo represents a momentous victory for President Bashar Assad and a crushing defeat for Syria's opposition which will struggle to forge a way forward.

The ancient city has been divided into rebel and government parts since 2012.

Aleppo was once Syria's largest city, and its commercial and industrial hub before the uprising against Mr Assad began in 2011.