Truce holds for second day in Aleppo but UN delays evacuations

The UN said Friday that security concerns have forced it to delay planned evacuations from Syria’s Aleppo, despite a truce that was holding for a second day in the ravaged city.

The unilateral “humanitarian pause” in the Syrian government’s Russia-backed assault on the opposition-held east of the city was intended to allow civilians and rebels to leave.

But there was no sign that either civilians or rebels were heeding calls to depart, with Damascus and Moscow accusing opposition fighters of preventing evacuations.

The truce was initially described as lasting just 11 hours, but Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced late Thursday that it would be extended “by 24 hours,” leaving it unclear exactly when it would end.

East Aleppo, which the rebels captured in 2012, has been under siege by the army since mid-July and has faced devastating bombardment by the government and its ally Russia since the launch of an offensive to retake the whole city on September 22.

Nearly 500 people have been killed, more than a quarter of them children, since the assault began. More than 2,000 civilians have been wounded.

The scale of the casualties has prompted outrage in the West, with Washington saying the bombardment amounted to a possible war crime.

Russia announced a halt to its airstrikes from Tuesday and the cease-fire from Thursday.