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Syria: ambulances on the move as Aleppo evacuation operation begins Hundreds of civilians leave eastern Aleppo as evacuation begins
(about 1 hour later)
Ambulances and buses have transported wounded people out of besieged districts of Aleppo to rebel-held territory west of the city, and are returning to pick up a second group, as a long-awaited evacuation operation got under way. Hundreds of people have been evacuated from the besieged districts of east Aleppo and thousands more are expected to make the journey in the coming hours and days under a deal brokered by Turkey and Russia and overseen by the Red Cross.
Thirteen ambulances and 20 buses were involved in the first wave of evacuations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told the Guardian. Footage of a long convoy of ambulances and green buses driving out of the city was broadcast on Syrian state TV. Thursday’s evacuations, carried out using a convoy of ambulances and green buses, will end months of deprivation and suffering for the desperate residents of east Aleppo who lived under siege in a shrinking patch of land controlled by the opposition, surviving brutal bombardment by forces loyal to the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Iranian-backed militias and the Russian air force.
The vehicles had arrived in rebel-held areas of the city earlier on Thursday, almost five hours after the evacuation was due to begin, when medical teams waited amid reports of gunfire. More than 1,000 people are thought to have been killed in the Syrian government’s latest campaign in Aleppo while tens of thousands more have been displaced. Many of those in the besieged areas have been living without functioning hospitals or much running water and electricity. They faced a choice of making a last stand or surrendering to the regime’s allied militias, who the UN said carried out summary executions of civilians in newly reclaimed areas.
About 1,000 people had left in the first convoy, the vast majority civilians, said the ICRC, which is overseeing the evacuation with Syrian Arab Red Crescent. The departures also marked the beginning of the closing chapter of the rebellion in Aleppo, half of which was seized by the opposition in 2012 and since then has been divided, the last major urban stronghold where the rebels maintained an active presence.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is overseeing the deal along with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, said 13 ambulances and 20 buses transporting the wounded and civilians had left east Aleppo in the first convoy, carrying nearly 1,000 people by Syrian government estimates.
By Thursday afternoon, the ICRC said the buses and ambulances had entered east Aleppo for a second time to carry out more evacuations, in an operation that is expected to take several days. The ICRC said the evacuations would continue through the night.
The UN humanitarian adviser for Syria, Jan Egeland, said the operation was three pronged, involving the evacuation of the sick and wounded, vulnerable civilians, and fighters. “Thousands of people are in need of evacuation, but the first and most urgent thing is wounded, sick and children, including orphans,” he said.The UN humanitarian adviser for Syria, Jan Egeland, said the operation was three pronged, involving the evacuation of the sick and wounded, vulnerable civilians, and fighters. “Thousands of people are in need of evacuation, but the first and most urgent thing is wounded, sick and children, including orphans,” he said.
Separately, Russia’s Tass news agency, citing the Russian defence ministry, said Russia had begun the evacuation of 5,000 Syrian rebels and their family members along a 20km (12 miles) humanitarian corridor. He estimated the number of civilians to be evacuated at 30,000. He also criticised the failure of the international community in coming to the aid of Aleppo’s people, tweeting:
A teacher in east Aleppo who was waiting to be evacuated said there were mixed feelings among the residents. Some were angry that they were being forced to leave, but others were happy that the violence had stopped. For 3000 years #Aleppo gave so much to world civilisations. How come, when Aleppo's people needed us the most, we gave so little back?
Some locals were burning their belongings in their homes, he said, so that they were not looted by pro-regime forces when they enter the besieged districts. A teacher in east Aleppo, who is waiting to be evacuated, said there were mixed feelings among residents, with some angry they are being forced to leave and others happy that the violence will stop.
A ceasefire deal had gone into effect at 2.30am local time (12.30am GMT) on Thursday. Sources in east Aleppo said shelling in the city had stopped at midnight local time but gunfire was reported on Thursday morning before the ICRC said the evacuation had begun. He said some locals were burning their belongings in their homes so they are not looted by pro-regime forces when they enter the besieged districts.
“Most of them are happy they are going out, some of them are angry they’re leaving their city, I saw some of them crying, and that’s almost my feeling in a way,” he said. “It’s difficult to leave your belongings and know your enemy will take them.”
The new deal to evacuate the people of east Aleppo came after the collapse of an agreement the previous day over Iranian objections. Tens of thousands of civilians who remained trapped in opposition-held areas of the city without food, water or medicine came under a renewed hail of artillery and airstrikes after its collapse.
The latest agreement allows for the evacuation of civilians and wounded, as well as rebel fighters bearing small arms, from besieged areas of the city with Turkey and Russia acting as guarantors. The deal began with a ceasefire at midnight local time (2200 GMT) in Aleppo.
As a concession to Tehran, which is backing the militias spearheading the assault into Aleppo, wounded civilians will be evacuated from Fua and Kefraya, two Shia villages in the province of Idlib that have been surrounded by rebels for years.
Syrian state media said on Thursday that 29 trucks and ambulances were heading to the villages.
Sources in east Aleppo said shelling in the city had stopped at midnight local time but gunfire was reported on Thursday morning before the ICRC said the evacuation had begun.
The White Helmets civil defence force, which is based in east Aleppo, said one of its members was injured by a sniper while clearing an evacuation route and its ambulances in the enclave had come under small arms fire.The White Helmets civil defence force, which is based in east Aleppo, said one of its members was injured by a sniper while clearing an evacuation route and its ambulances in the enclave had come under small arms fire.
The evacuation deal was agreed late on Wednesday after a day of intense bombardment and shuttle diplomacy following the unravelling of a previous agreement in the face of Iranian opposition. Tens of thousands of civilians who remained trapped in opposition-held areas of the city without food, water or medicine came under a renewed hail of artillery and airstrikes after its collapse. The effort to treat and house tens of thousands of civilians, many of whom have had no access to medicine or much food for the past several weeks, is likely to be immense. The Turkish government has said it was prepared to receive the wounded and was readying refugee camps to house as many as 80,000 people in northern Syria and inside Turkey.
A spokesperson for Noureddine al-Zinki, one of the armed opposition groups in Aleppo, said the deal would also allow the evacuation of wounded people in Fua and Kefraya, two Shia villages in Idlib province that are besieged by rebels. The aid organisation Mercy Corps said its workers were ready to provide food, blankets, money and other supplies to the civilians arriving in the western countryside of Aleppo, which is under opposition control.
Syrian state media said on Thursday that 29 trucks and ambulances were headed to the villages. Al-Assad hailed the fall of Aleppo as a historical turning point. In a video released by his office, the Syrian president said: “What is happening today is the writing of history.”
The inclusion of Fua and Kefraya was a concession to Iran, which had opposed the previous ceasefire deal negotiated by Turkish intelligence and the Russian military. In a philosophical and whimsical message, he talked about the fall of Aleppo – apparently while standing outside the door of his office – in the context of the birth of Christ and the fall of the USSR. The reclaiming of Aleppo will be something of similar historical significance, and a key turning point in the conflict, he said.
Iranian-backed militias spearheaded the ground assault on east Aleppo by forces supporting the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and rampaged through newly reclaimed neighbourhoods in what the UN described as a “meltdown of humanity”. Graffiti left by residents in the city for the militias and pro-Assad forces who were expected to enter after their departure highlighted the mixed feelings of those who had to abandon their homes.
Weeks of immense suffering and violence in eastern Aleppo since the Syrian regime and allies began a final push into territory that had been in rebel hands since 2012 have left residents in total despair and increasingly angry at the international community for abandoning them to their fates. One message said: “We will return, Aleppo. Our destroyed buildings are a witness of our resistance and your criminality.”
Another condemned the destruction meted out by the Assad regime and its allies on east Aleppo: “Under every destroyed building are families buried with their dreams by Assad and his allies.”