The Syrian government suspended the evacuation of civilians and fighters from the last rebel-held parts of Aleppo on Friday, leaving thousands of people trapped and uncertain of their fate.
The deal was put on hold shortly after President Vladimir Putin said Russia was “actively negotiating” with the opposition and seeking a nationwide ceasefire.
The delicate operation to bring the last civilians and rebels out of east Aleppo began on Thursday and had continued through the night, with thousands of people leaving in buses and ambulances.
But on Friday morning it was abruptly suspended, with the government accusing rebels of violating the terms of the deal brokered by its key ally Russia and opposition supporter Turkey.
“The evacuation operation has been suspended because the militants failed to respect the conditions of the agreement,” a security source told AFP.
State television said: “The terrorist groups violated the agreement and tried to smuggle heavy weapons and hostages from east Aleppo.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has supervised the evacuation, confirmed “regretfully, the operation was put on hold”.
“We urge the parties to ensure it can be relaunched and proceed in the right conditions,” its regional head Robert Mardini tweeted.
Besieged villages
The opposition accused the government of suspending the operation in a bid to secure the evacuation of residents from two villages under rebel siege.
“The regime and its militias... stopped the evacuation operation in another attempt to involve Fuaa and Kafraya,” said Yasser al-Youssef of the Nureddin al-Zinki rebel group.
Fuaa and Kafraya are Shia-majority villages in Idlib Province that have been under rebel siege since 2015.
The government and its other main ally Iran have reportedly sought to add an evacuation of civilians from the villages to the terms of the deal for Aleppo.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, also said the suspension appeared to be related to the two villages.
It said pro-government fighters were blocking the road out of Aleppo that the evacuation convoy had been using.
The evacuation of the last pocket of rebel territory in Aleppo began on Thursday under a deal brokered by Russia and Turkey.
The operation had been scheduled to begin on Wednesday, but was delayed over government objections, including over Fuaa and Kafraya.
Clashes resumed for several hours before the deal was revived, and on Thursday afternoon buses and ambulances began transporting evacuees to rebel territory in the west of Aleppo province.
The evacuations ran through the night, with people leaving in private vehicles as well the green government buses and ambulances that initially transported residents and rebels.
Initially, evacuees were leaving via a single convoy that travelled back and forth between Aleppo and the west of the province.
But overnight, the vehicles began returning individually to collect more evacuees as soon as they had dropped off their passengers.
The Observatory estimated some 8,500 people had left before the operation was suspended, including around 3,000 rebel fighters.
Syrian state media reported a figure of around 8,000.
