The last stage of Aleppo’s evacuation begins

Residents from the mostly Shiite Syrian villages of Kafraya and Fuaa, which are besieged by opposition fighters, wait in a bus to get a green light from the rebels to cross into a government controlled area in the province of Aleppo, on December 20, 2016. Some 750 people had been evacuated in parallel from the embattled city of Aleppo, from Fuaa and Kafraya, two Shiite-majority villages in northwest Syria besieged by rebels, as part of the deal to evacuate civilians. / AFP PHOTO / Omar haj kadour

Buses loaded with Syrian civilians have begun leaving the last rebel-held enclave of eastern Aleppo again on Wednesday, after being stalled for a day, a UN official said.
The Syrian Observatory has confirmed that the final stage of the evacuation from the besieged eastern Aleppo process will be launched within the next few hours.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said the bus convoy entered the last besieged pocket of the city on Tuesday in harsh weather conditions and some were loaded with people, but they had not moved since.

Eight buses en route to Aleppo from the pro-government villages of Foua and Kefraya had also been held up since Tuesday, the Observatory said. Government forces had insisted the two villages, besieged by rebels in Idlib, must be included in the deal to bring people out of east Aleppo.
So far, about 25,000 people have been evacuated from Aleppo, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is helping with the process. A UN official said 750 people had so far been evacuated from Foua and Kefraya.

Source: Alarabiya

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