Leaving Aleppo
Evacuations to resume after cease-fire falters
Evacuations will resume from war-torn east Aleppo, rebel officials said Saturday, after previous efforts were halted by progovernment forces demanding civilians from four other Syrian towns also be removed.
The updated deal, confirmed by rebel official al-Farouk Abu Bakr, includes evacuations from besieged Shiite villages al-Foua and Kefraya as well as evacuating wounded civilians from Madaya and Zabadani on the Lebanese border, Reuters reported.
“It was agreed to resume evacuations from east Aleppo in parallel with the evacuation of cases” from the additional towns, a government official, who is part of the evacuations negotiating team, confirmed.
Iran — one of Syria’s main allies — had insisted that the villages be included in the deal, rebel and United Nations officials said.
The Shiite villages, just south of Aleppo, are besieged by insurgents and the other southern Syrian towns are blockaded by dictator Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
A previous cease-fire between Syrian government forces and rebels collapsed Thursday, when pro-government protesters barricaded the roads in Aleppo until their demands were met.
Pro-government fighters allegedly sprayed bullets at a convoy carrying evacuees on Friday and detained “hundreds” of civilians — some of whom died, according to Abu Bakr. A Syrian military source denied the violence, but admitted a motorcade attempting to leave Aleppo was returned back to the city.
Close to 8,000 people — including 3,000 rebel fighters and more than 300 wounded — had fled the city before evacuations were shut down, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
However, rebel officials say no rebel warriors evacuated and far fewer citizens escaped than the Syrian government claims.
Around 30,000 people are still trapped inside the devastated rebel-held town, according to the UN. Buses and ambulances had yet to reach al-Foua or Kefraya Saturday morning, but the evacuations were expected to begin soon, Syrian officials said.
Upon evacuation, Syrian citizens will be taken to a neighboring Idlib province and the rest to government-held districts, but terror-stricken residents still fear for their safety.
“People are fleeing from appalling bombardment and houseto-house murder that’s being documented by the UN, and they don’t know if it’s going to follow them from Aleppo to Idlib,” former British foreign secretary David Miliband told BBC Radio.
Abu Bakr said, “We are working on international guarantees to guarantee the safety of those who leave Aleppo so that such violations are not repeated.”
Despite repeated setbacks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he was working with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to try to start a new round of Syrian peace talks aimed at securing a nationwide cease-fire.
President-elect Donald Trump said Friday his administration would build “safe zones” to try to help civilians trapped in Syria’s bloody conflict.