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Syria war: Huge bomb kills dozens of evacuees in Syria | Syria war: Huge bomb kills dozens of evacuees in Syria |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A huge car bomb has blasted a convoy of coaches carrying evacuees from government-held towns in Syria, killing at least 39 people. | |
It shattered coaches and set cars on fire, leaving a trail of bodies including children, as the convoy waited in rebel territory near Aleppo. | |
Russian troops have reportedly moved to shield rebel evacuees from retaliation. | Russian troops have reportedly moved to shield rebel evacuees from retaliation. |
Thousands of evacuees from both sides of Syria's civil war have been stuck in hostile territory since Friday. | Thousands of evacuees from both sides of Syria's civil war have been stuck in hostile territory since Friday. |
The "Four Towns" deal brokered by Iran and Qatar was meant to relieve suffering in besieged towns - Foah and Kefraya in the north-west which are under government control, and rebel-held Madaya and Zabadani near Damascus. | |
Some 30,000 besieged people would be taken out but, according to AFP news agency, up to 5,000 government evacuees and 2,200 from rebel towns are now stranded. | |
Last month, the UN described the situation in the besieged towns as "catastrophic". More than 64,000 civilians are "trapped in a cycle of daily violence and deprivation", it said. | |
What do we know of the bombing? | |
The bomb reportedly went off at Rashidin, west of Aleppo, around 15:30 local time (12:30 GMT) at the checkpoint where the handover was due to take place. | |
Syrian state media reported 39 deaths while other sources spoke of between 43 and 60 deaths. Hundreds of people are said to have been injured. | |
A suicide bomber driving a van supposedly carrying aid supplies blew it up near the coaches, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports. | A suicide bomber driving a van supposedly carrying aid supplies blew it up near the coaches, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports. |
Images from the scene show bodies lying on the ground outside blackened and devastated vehicles. | |
"There are dead people everywhere. You can see tens of burnt out cars, bodies everywhere," said an unnamed eyewitness, describing the carnage for Syria's Qasioun news agency. | |
" Emergency staff and opposition factions are evacuating the wounded and the martyrs [the dead]." | |
The complex choreography of this exchange has been attempted before on a smaller scale, reports Sebastian Usher, the BBC's Arab affairs editor. There must now be concern over whether it can continue at all, he adds. | |
An AFP correspondent west of Aleppo, speaking before the explosion, said the coaches carrying government evacuees had not moved in 30 hours. | An AFP correspondent west of Aleppo, speaking before the explosion, said the coaches carrying government evacuees had not moved in 30 hours. |
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent was distributing food and water to the waiting passengers, who include 3,700 civilians, the agency adds. | The Syrian Arab Red Crescent was distributing food and water to the waiting passengers, who include 3,700 civilians, the agency adds. |
Rebels say Damascus breached the terms of the deal, accusing the government of trying to bring out more loyalist fighters than agreed. | |
Where does this leave the rebel evacuees? | |
According to an 24Aleppo tweet, a special unit of the Russian army surrounded the convoy from the rebel-held towns after the bombing and closed the road there to "prevent any reaction". | According to an 24Aleppo tweet, a special unit of the Russian army surrounded the convoy from the rebel-held towns after the bombing and closed the road there to "prevent any reaction". |
Evacuees from Madaya called on international organisations to protect them from any possible retaliation, saying they condemned the attack on the other convoy. | Evacuees from Madaya called on international organisations to protect them from any possible retaliation, saying they condemned the attack on the other convoy. |
"Everyone here is on a tether following the Rashidin bombing," they said in a statement. "We are holding the guarantors of the Four Towns deal responsible for our safety as the Shia towns and regime troops around us are on the highest alert." | |
Madaya resident Ahmed, 24, told Reuters news agency earlier that evacuees had been waiting without drinking water or food at a bus garage in Aleppo since Friday night. | |
"The bus garage is small so there's not much space to move around," he said. "We're sad and angry about what has happened." | |
The Madaya and Zabadani evacuees are meant to be transferred to rebel-held territory in Idlib province. | |
Why are the evacuations needed? | |
Many people are reported to have died as a result of shortages of food or medicine in the four towns. | Many people are reported to have died as a result of shortages of food or medicine in the four towns. |
Foah and Kefraya, most of whose residents are Shia Muslims, have been encircled by rebels and al Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim jihadists since March 2015. | |
Madaya and Zabadani, which are predominantly Sunni Muslim, have been besieged since June 2015 by the Syrian army and fighters from Lebanon's Shia Muslim Hezbollah movement. | |
A previous attempt at mutual evacuations failed in December when rebels burnt coaches due to be sent to the towns. | A previous attempt at mutual evacuations failed in December when rebels burnt coaches due to be sent to the towns. |