Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has said the worst of his country’s six-year war is behind them after a string of advances by his forces backed by key ally Russia.

In recent months, Assad’s troops and allied fighters have retaken territory across the country, including recapturing all of Aleppo city in December after years of fighting.

In an interview in Damascus with a India-based television station, the Syrian President said that things now are moving in the right direction, which is a better direction, because Syrian troops are defeating the terrorists.

The interview was released by the Syrian presidency today.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with demonstrations against Assad’s government.