Winter strikes as final round of Aleppo evacuations under way

Syrian pro-government forces walk as snow falls in Aleppo. Picture: AFP/George Ourfalian/Getty Images

The Syrian opposition agreed to surrender their last foothold in the city last week, marking the most significant victory for president Bashar Assad since an uprising against his family’s four-decade rule swept the country in 2011.

It followed a punishing offensive by the government and its regional allies that drove out tens of thousands of civilians from the east of the city.

The government agreed to allow the remaining residents – fighters and civilians – to leave as part of the agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey in Ankara last week.

Four buses from the opposition’s last foothold in the city arrived to the western Aleppo countryside yesterday, marking the first successful evacuation in more than 24 hours.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 60 buses are expected to evacuate some 3,000 fighters and civilians from the opposition’s last foothold in the city. It is the last convoy set to leave Aleppo before the government is expected to declare it has reassumed full control of the city for the first time since rebels carved out an enclave for the opposition in 2012.

Syrian state TV said the evacuations resumed after rebels handed over prisoners taken in previous rounds of fighting.

A dispute delayed the final round of evacuations for over 24 hours after some 20,000 civilians and fighters were bused out of the city.

Some 3,000 rebel fighters and civilians endured harsh wintry conditions overnight, waiting to board what may be the last convoy out of the east. Activists circulated photos on social media of families huddled around fires amid the sleet and snow. By midday, temperatures in the city hovered around freezing.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict through a network of activists on the ground, said 60 buses were waiting to leave.

Rebels and the government traded blame for the delay.

Syrian state media said on Tuesday evening that “differences among terrorist groups” were holding up the evacuations from Aleppo and from two rebel-besieged Shiite villages in the country’s north, Foua and Kfarya. The government calls all armed opposition fighters terrorists.

The rebels are supposed to allow the evacuation of the sick and wounded from the two villages as part of a cease-fire deal reached last week to ensure the evacuation of eastern, rebel-held part of the city of Aleppo.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was prepared to facilitate the evacuations when they resume.

Spokeswoman Ingy Sedky said the ICRC had already evacuated 750 people from the twin villages.

This would leave some 1,500 more requiring evacuation, according to the deal reached by rebels and the government Monday.

On Tuesday, the ICRC said it has evacuated 25,000 people from the city since operations began last week, but the Observatory says the tally is closer to 17,000.

The Observatory also said 21 buses are still waiting to evacuate the sick and wounded from the rebel-besieged Shiite villages of Foua and Kfarya.

Also on Tuesday, the UN humanitarian aid agency said Syria’s government authorised UN plans to send about 20 staffers to monitor evacuations from eastern Aleppo. It was not clear if the UN monitors would arrive before the operations were complete.

Elsewhere in northern Syria, fighting between the Islamic State group on one side, and Turkish forces and Syrian opposition forces on the other, killed four Turkish soldiers, according to the state Anadolu news agency.