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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| 4K rebel fighters, families exit Aleppo |
| 2016-12-16 |
| DAMASCUS: At least 4,000 opposition fighters and their families will be evacuated from the last opposition-held districts of Syria’s Aleppo, state television reported on Thursday. “Four thousand opposition fighters with their families will be evacuated from the eastern districts of Aleppo,” the television said in a breaking news alert. “All the procedures for their evacuation are ready,” it added. Buses were waiting to carry out the evacuations under a new agreement reached after a first plan collapsed on Wednesday amid fresh fighting. And by late morning a convoy of ambulances was moving to a staging area where the first evacuees were expected to arrive for transport to the west of Aleppo province. The deal, brokered by Syrian regime ally Moscow and opposition supporter Ankara, will mark the end of years of fighting for control of the second city and a major victory for President Bashar Assad. A source close to the regime with knowledge of the negotiations initially said the army would “receive the names of all evacuees” but subsequently said it was unclear if such a list would be turned over. The issue of the handover of a list of names had reportedly been one factor in the collapse of the earlier deal. The source also said the agreement would involve the evacuation of sick and wounded residents of Fuaa and Kafraya, two regime-held villages in Idlib province that are besieged by opposition forces. The army began an offensive to recapture east Aleppo in mid-November, and now holds more than 90 percent of the onetime opposition bastion. |
| Posted by:badanov |