Evacuation of rebels from eastern Aleppo resumes

World Today

Evacuation of rebels from eastern Aleppo resumes

Evacuations from the Syrian city of Aleppo have stalled again, after rebels and pro-government forces appeared to reach a deal.

Buses were ready to bring fighters from east Aleppo, and their families left in the last rebel-held sector of the city.

Pro-government forces agreed to the deal, in exchange for people being allowed to leave two Shiite villages besieged by insurgents.

But the Syrian government says nobody else can leave Aleppo until those villages are evacuated. CCTV’s Alaa Ebrahim reports.

It is another day and there’s been another failed attempt to evacuate residents of eastern Aleppo. Buses lined up and people gathered all day Sunday waiting to get out. It was hoped that the deal that stumbled for days would finally take hold and end the ordeal of tens of thousands of civilians along with several thousand rebel fighters.

But the deal that failed before over the evacuation of sick and wounded persons from two loyalists towns found trouble in those towns again. Civilians in Foa’a and Kefrya were supposed to leave simultaneously on Sunday but as the buses were on their way – the vehicles came under attack and were set on fire..

Rebel sources tell CCTV that fighter from the radical group Jabhat Fatah al-Sham – formerly known as al-Nusra Front – an Al Qaeda affiliate carried out the attack.

The attack puts the fate of thousands of fighters and civilians in Aleppo, Kefrya and Foa’a in continued danger as supplies are running low.
A source in the Syrian army allies’ operation room – A title usually used to refer to Iranian and Hezbollah fighters fighting alongside government forces – told reporters that militants in eastern Aleppo will now have to wait until civilians are allowed out of Kefrya and Foa’a towns, blaming rebels for any delay in both evacuations.

Fighting in Syria goes on. For now, rebels seem unable to formulate a unified stand and the government seems adamant against giving rebels a free pass out of Aleppo. So, the fate of tens of thousands of civilians remains uncertain.