It's time we heard the truth about how ruthless Aleppo rebels shot civilians who tried to leave

Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo’s Fardos neighbourhood yesterday, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters (Photo: AFP/Getty)

Robert Fisk
© © Independent.co.uk

Western politicians, "experts" and journalists are going to have to reboot their stories over the next few days now that Bashar al-Assad's army has retaken control of eastern Aleppo. We are going to find out if the 250,000 civilians "trapped" in the city were indeed that numerous.

We are going to hear far more about why they were not able to leave when the Syrian government and Russian air force staged their ferocious bombardment of the eastern part of the city.