Updated December 15, 2016 22:08:14
An attempt to evacuate people in need of medical attention from rebel-held eastern Aleppo stalled today after fighters loyal to the Syrian Government fired on the convoy, wounding three, the head of the ambulance service said.
Key points:
- Those injured in the convoy attack were brought back to "besieged areas"
- The evacuation of Aleppo would end years of fighting over the city
- The evacuation had been delayed due to renewed fighting
The evacuation of the last rebel enclave would end years of fighting for the city and mark a major victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"The convoy was shot at by regime forces and we have three injured, one of them from civil defence ... They were brought back to besieged areas," ambulance service head Ahmed Sweid told the pro-opposition Orient TV.
A Reuters witness in nearby government-held territory heard a burst of gunfire that lasted several minutes.
An official with an Aleppo rebel group said the medical convoy had stopped before clearing the besieged eastern part of the city.
A Reuters witness in government-held territory said columns of black smoke could be seen rising out of the rebel-held area.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said its operation to evacuate about 200 wounded people from the city was now underway.
Ambulances have begun to move towards the rebel-held area of Aleppo for the planned evacuation of wounded, a Reuters witness in the Syrian city said.
A long line of buses was shown on state television crossing to the rebel sector.
Russian Army to lead Aleppo evacuation effort
Russian soldiers were preparing to lead rebels out of Aleppo, the defence ministry in Moscow said.
Syria had guaranteed the safety of rebels and their families, who would be taken towards Idlib, a city in north-western Syria.
Russia would use drones to monitor how rebels and their families were transported on 20 buses, accompanied by 10 ambulances, along a humanitarian corridor, the ministry said.
A truce brokered by Russia, Mr Assad's most powerful ally, and opposition backer Turkey broke down following renewed fighting on Wednesday, and the evacuation did not take place then as planned.
An official from the Jabha Shamiya rebel group said a new truce came into effect at 2.30am local time on Thursday.
Shortly before the new deal was announced, clashes raged in Aleppo.
Government forces made a new advance in Sukkari, one of a handful of districts still held by rebels, and brought half of the neighbourhood under their control, according to monitors the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Rebels said they attacked government forces with suicide car bombs.
Before the report of the government forces' advance in Sukkari, the Russian defence ministry said the rebels controlled an enclave of only 2.5 square kilometres.
Assad wins Aleppo, but loses ground to Islamic State
The evacuation plan was the culmination of two weeks of rapid advances by the Syrian army and its allies that drove insurgents back into an ever-smaller pocket of the city under intense air strikes and artillery fire.
By taking control of Aleppo, Mr Assad has proved the power of his military coalition, aided by Russia's air force and an array of Shi'ite militias from across the region.
Rebels have been backed by the United States, Turkey and Gulf monarchies, but that support has fallen far short of the direct military assistance given to Assad by Russia and Iran.
Russia's decision to deploy its air force to Syria 18 months ago turned the war in Mr Assad's favour after rebel advances across western Syria.
In addition to Aleppo, he has won back insurgent strongholds near Damascus this year.
The Government and its allies have focused the bulk of their firepower on fighting rebels in western Syria rather than Islamic State, which this week managed to take back the ancient city of Palmyra.
The victory once again illustrated the challenge Mr Assad faces re-establishing control over all of Syria.
Carla del Ponte, a United Nations investigator and former UN war crimes prosecutor, told German media Russian and Syrian bombing of civilian targets amounted to war crimes, as did the starving out of parts of Aleppo for months by militias loyal to the Government.
Reuters
First posted December 15, 2016 20:54:04
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