Hours before truce, Bashar al-Assad vows to retake 'all of Syria'

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (C) speaking with the press as he walks in the street alongside officials after performing the morning Eid al-Adha prayer at a mosque in a government-controlled area of Daraya

Damascus: Syria's President Bashar al-Assad vowed to retake all of Syria from "terrorists", hours before a truce brokered by Russia and the United States was due to take hold yesterday.

Speaking in Daraya, a former rebel stronghold recently surrendered to the government, Assad said "the Syrian state is determined to recover every area from the terrorists," state media reported.

"The armed forces are continuing their work, relentlessly and without hesitation, regardless of internal or external circumstances," he said.

Assad made a rare public appearance to celebrate the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday in Daraya, where state media showed him attending prayers at the Saad Bin Moaz mosque.

After years of government siege and fighting, its remaining residents and rebel fighters evacuated the town in late August under a deal with the regime, which has since retaken control.

"After five years, some people still haven't woken up from their fantasies," Assad said, referring to the anti-government protests that erupted in Syria in 2011. "Some were betting on promises from foreign powers, which will result in nothing," he added.