Syria’s state TV reported that based on an agreement between the Syrian authorities and the terrorists’ leaders, 4,000 militants and their family members – that are said to be around 10,000 people – will leave Eastern Aleppo.
Estimates say some 15,000 to 20,000 civilians are still in the very few districts controlled by the terrorists in Eastern Aleppo.
The terrorists have been allowed to take only light arms with themselves during the evacuation.
The terrorist groups have started setting fire on their bases, vehicles, weapons caches and extra food supplies. They also sought to destroy the documents which revealed their ties with foreign states that support them.
Meantime, al-Mayadeen news channel reported that the agreement to relocate the militants includes evacuation of civilians from the two towns of Fua’a and Kafraya in Idlib, besieged by the terrorists.
According to reports, the two warring sides have pledged to remain committed to the terms of the agreement.
After ambulances started evacuating the wounded from Eastern to Western Aleppo in the morning, the latest reports said on Thursday morning that the Syrian and Russian forces are ready to start evacuation of militants from Aleppo to relocate them to Idlib province.
According to the Russian reconciliation center, about 20 buses and 10 ambulances will carry out evacuation of the wounded militants.
The wounded are to be sent to Ramouseh, South-West of Aleppo, first to be dispatched to Idlib via Khan Touman and the roads in Northern Hama.
The Russian reconciliation center said in a statement that it is “preparing to evacuate the remaining militants and their family members from the Eastern districts of the city of Aleppo in collaboration with the Syrian authorities”.
The reconciliation center is monitoring the situation in the area using surveillance cameras and drones, adding that Russian soldiers will also accompany the militants during the evacuation from Aleppo to Idlib.
The Syrian authorities are guaranteeing that all members of armed groups who decide to leave Eastern Aleppo will be safe, the center said.
“The Syrian authorities are guaranteeing safety of all members of armed groups who decided to leave the Eastern districts of Aleppo,” the center added in the statement.
The Syrian authorities and terrorist groups stationed in the Eastern parts of Aleppo reached an agreement to evacuate militants from the region in return for relocating thousands of besieged civilians from Fua’a and Kafraya in Idlib to government-ruled territories.
The latest reports said 29 buses and ambulances are on their way to Idlib to evacuate the wounded, women and children from Faua’a and Kafraya to government-held territories via Northern Hama. According to official statements, the evacuation will take place in several phases.
A sum of 1,200 wounded people along with their family members are to leave the two besieged towns in Idlib in the first stage.
Local sources close to the dissidents said that all preparations have been made for the evacuation of militants and their families from Aleppo.
The latest reports from Eastern Aleppo said tens of ambulances and Green Buses have arrived at militant-held territories, and terrorists are readying to start evacuation any moment.
Evacuation of wounded militants started at 9 am (Syria Times). Reports said the ambulances are heading for medical centers in Western Aleppo.
Syrian officials have confirmed earlier reports that 15,000 residents of Fua’a and Kafraya in Idlib who are under the terrorists’ siege would be evacuated under the Aleppo ceasefire and evacuation agreement.
The terrorists violated a Tuesday night ceasefire after they received some messages from Ankara about Turkey’s increasing pressures on Damascus through military intervention in Northern Aleppo province combined with the western states’ mounting pressures on Syria and its allies that accused the latter of war crimes in Eastern Aleppo.
Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin had told the UN Security Council meeting in New York on Tuesday that the fighting in Eastern Aleppo stopped and the Syrian government regained control over the territory after the withdrawal of militants from the city was agreed.
But, terrorists resumed fire Wednesday morning and pushing the deal into complete failure.
Jeish al-Fatah coalition of terrorist groups has been targeting the Eastern and Western districts of Aleppo city regardless of the ceasefire declared on Tuesday night, inflicting heavy casualties on the people and blocking their exit from the war-hit city, local sources stressed.
The sources said that clashes resumed between the militants and the Syrian government forces in the Eastern Aleppo neighborhoods of Salahuddin and Seif al-Dowleh after Jeish al-Fatah terrorists dropped agreement on the exit of militants and violated the truce.
The sources added that the militants opened fire at the army and civilians in flagrant violation of the ceasefire, killing and wounding scores of people, including children.
Following the attacks, evacuation of the last group of militants from the Eastern part of the Syrian city of Aleppo delayed, if not cancelled at all.
“Everything has been ready for the withdrawal (of militants from Aleppo) since the night fell,” RIA Novosti quoted a sources as saying, adding “It was expected that the withdrawal would start early in the morning, but it has not started yet”.
Another news website reported that Fatah al-Sham Front (previously known as the al-Nusra Front) is disturbing the exit trend of the militants from Aleppo city.
The Syrian Army troops and popular forces restarted their attacks on Jeish al-Fatah’s positions in the Eastern districts of Aleppo city after the militants breached the truce.
Militants in Aleppo violated the agreement on leaving the city and used the ceasefire to regroup and begin hostilities again, the Russian center said in a statement on Wednesday.
The center added that it had prepared means for evacuation of militants to Idlib, in accordance with the deal reached by the Syrian authorities and the militants.
“When the transport arrived at the previously agreed loading place, the militants began shelling the convoy. Having used the ceasefire, the militants regrouped at dawn and renewed hostilities, trying to break through the positions of the Syrian army in the Northwestern direction,” the statement read.
According to the statement, the army repelled the attack and continued the operation to liberate Eastern Aleppo.
Media reports say the buses that have gone to Aleppo to take militants and civilians out of the city returned to depots.
The Syrian Army’s victories in Eastern Aleppo finally forced militant groups to leave the war-torn city as Jeish Al-Fatah terrorists are now encircled in a very small area left with the only two options of surrender or die.
The terrorist groups in Eastern Aleppo asked the Syrian Army to allow them leave the city for Idlib similar to other militant groups throughout the country that have opted for the same choice.
The Syrian army troops and popular forces squeezed Jeish al-Fatah terrorists in an area no larger than 2.5 sq/km, after taking control of nearly 99 percent of entire Eastern Aleppo.
A field source also disclosed that the defense lines of the terrorists completely collapsed and they were not able to resist against the government forces’ strikes, saying the army men and Hezbollah will soon liberate the remaining neighborhoods.
The Syrian army units started special operations in Aleppo after several humanitarian pauses declared by Damascus and Moscow to give a chance to the civilian population as well as the militants to leave the Eastern parts of the city through 8 corridors.
District after district have fallen into the hands of the Syrian army soldiers and their allies in the city of Aleppo, as the pro-government troops have recaptured most of the blocks and districts in the Northern and Southern parts of Eastern Aleppo.
Also, tens of thousands of civilians, including hundreds of children and newborn babies, have also left the Eastern part of the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo in recent days, while thousands of militants laid down their arms and left Eastern Aleppo through the special corridor.
Over the recent months, Aleppo has been a battlefield between government forces and numerous terrorist groups, however, in recent weeks, the Syrian Army has made significant gains in Eastern Aleppo and is close to liberating it from the militants.
