Reports: Evacuations from Aleppo halted
The evacuation of civilians and rebels from eastern Aleppo was halted Friday according to media and some aid workers, while Russia and Turkey insisted that was not the case.
The Guardian reported that the suspension was caused by rebels who refused to allow wounded people to be evacuated from the Shiite villages of Fua and Kefraya in Idlib province.
The Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported that the pullout was temporarily suspended after forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad opened fire on a convoy of civilians that was heading from eastern Aleppo to Idlib city.
A government official told Reuters that the evacuation was suspended because of "obstructions." A Reuters witness said at least four explosions were heard where the buses were departing from.
Robert Mardini, the International Committee of the Red Cross's regional director in the Middle East, tweeted: "Regretfully, the operation was put on hold. We urge the parties to ensure it can be relaunched & proceed in the right conditions."
However, Assad ally Russia said that all women and children were evacuated from eastern Aleppo and that the Syrian army was clearing it of the last remaining rebels.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, said the evacuation was still underway and had not been suspended, Anadolu reported.
Syrian state-run TV said that rebels had tried to take prisoners with them during the evacuation, breaching an agreement with the government, according to the Guardian.
Earlier Friday, the state-run Ikhbariya TV station reported that people were being evacuated from eastern Aleppo for a second day, after four convoys left the area.
The International Committee of the Red Cross told the BBC that more than 3,000 people left the area on Thursday, the first day of the evacuation. The United Nations said up to 50,000 people were still trapped.
The evacuation, which marks the end of the opposition's four-year control of eastern Aleppo, had been scheduled to start on Wednesday but was delayed after an earlier cease-fire deal collapsed.