An agreement has been reached with the Syrian government to allow opposition fighters to leave Aleppo, possibly in the coming hours, Russia’s UN envoy said Tuesday. “My latest information is that there is indeed an arrangement achieved on the ground that the fighters are going to leave the city,” Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters.
Mr. Churkin added that the evacuation could happen “within hours, maybe” as the Security Council met in emergency session to discuss the crisis in Aleppo.
A rebel official earlier told AFP that a deal had been reached with Damascus, backed by Russia and Turkey, to allow the fighters to leave with their light weapons.
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France and Britain requested the emergency Security Council meeting following reports that Syrian forces had entered homes and killed civilians including women in children in the final hours of the battle for Aleppo.
A Syrian military source confirmed that a deal had been reached, and said evacuations of rebel fighters to western Aleppo would begin at 5 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Wednesday. — AFP, Reuters