Syrian media say Aleppo evacuations to resume
BEIRUT — Dozens of buses and ambulances were poised to enter east Aleppo to resume evacuating rebel fighters and civilians from the opposition’s remaining districts in the city, pro-Syrian government media said Sunday.
As part of a wider deal, convoys were also preparing to evacuate more than 2,000 wounded and sick residents from two villages that have been besieged by rebels, the reports said. The opposition’s Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said buses had begun entering the villages, Foua and Kfarya.
Evacuations from Aleppo had been halted amid mutual recriminations Friday, after several thousand trapped civilians had already been moved from the city. The suspension of the evacuations had thrown an Aleppo deal brokered by Russia and Turkey last week into disarray.
The deal marked a turning point in the country’s war. With the opposition leaving Aleppo, Syrian President Bashar Assad has effectively reasserted his control over the Syria’s five largest cities and its Mediterranean coast nearly six years after a national movement to unseat him took hold.