A Free Syrian Army soldier walks through a street in Amariya district in Aleppo, Syria on September 10, 2012.

Beirut: The expected withdrawal of Syrian rebels from their one-time bastion of east Aleppo is the latest by opposition fighters surrounded by government forces.

For much of the conflict in Syria, the government has promoted “local reconciliation” deals that have often involved the evacuation from opposition territory of civilians and rebels who have surrendered.

The government says such deals are the best way to end the conflict that began with anti-regime protests in March 2011, before spiralling into civil war.

But the opposition says they are forced into these agreements after months or years of siege and army bombardment.

The tactic has attracted international concern, with allegations that the government is pursuing a “starve or surrender” policy against opposition areas.

More than 800,000 Syrians live under siege, according to the United Nations, with most encircled by regime forces, although rebels also use the tactic.

Probably the most well-known evacuation deal prior to Aleppo produced the 2014 withdrawal of rebels from the Old City of Homs after a two-year government siege.

Homs was dubbed the “capital of the revolution” after vast protests there early in Syria’s anti-regime uprising.

Assad’s forces later blockaded and bombarded insurgents holed up in the historic neighbourhood.

Most were finally evacuated in May 2014 under a deal involving a major rebel coalition and regime backer Iran.

But the regime continued to besiege Waer, the last remaining opposition-held district in Homs, until a local deal was agreed in December 2015.

Over the next several months, hundreds of rebels and their families were bussed out of Waer and taken to rural areas of Homs province.

In August 2016, all rebels and civilians from Daraya near Damascus were evacuated under a local agreement that followed a four-year government siege.

The opposition fighters and their families were given safe passage to rebel-held Idlib in the northwest, and regime troops moved back into the town, once a symbol of Syria’s peaceful uprising.

In September, a further 300 Syrians living in rebel-held Moadimayet Al Sham near Damascus were evacuated under the same accord.

Opposition fighters said they were forced to accept the deal, as a blockade and constant bombardment by the army had made the humanitarian situation untenable.

A UN-backed agreement saw hundreds of people evacuated from the government-controlled towns of Fuaa and Kafraya and rebel-held Zabadani in December 2015.

Fuaa and Kafraya, in northwestern Idlib province, are Shiite towns besieged by rebels.

Zabadani and Madaya are two rebel-held towns near Damascus that are surrounded by government forces.

The elaborate deal involving Lebanon and Turkey as transit countries has also led to humanitarian deliveries to both rebel and regime areas, most recently in September 2016.</s>The departure of 4,000 rebel fighters and civilians on Thursday completed the evacuation of what was formerly rebel-held eastern Aleppo. They left the last square kilometre of territory which had remained under nominal rebel control after a Russia and Turkey-backed ceasefire effectively ended the battle on 13 December. Since then, about 40,000 people have left the city amid worsening weather and humanitarian conditions in a fragile and slow-moving evacuation operation.

Rebels had held eastern Aleppo since 2012, but a year of Russian bombing allowed pro-regime forces to gradually encircle their enclave before finally overrunning it in less than a month. With Syria’s civil war far from over, tens of thousands of former Aleppo residents now face a precarious future as refugees in rebel-held Idlib.

With rebel-held Aleppo reduced to a small pocket on the west bank of the Aleppo river and reports of Iranian-backed militias killing civilians in newly captured territory in what the UN called a “meltdown of humanity”, Russia and Turkey made a deal to evacuate rebels and civilians to Idlib province. But on the first full day of the ceasefire, renewed shelling and the refusal of the Iranian-backed militias who had led the regime assault to allow the evacuation put it in doubt.

The evacuation of east Aleppo – if it goes ahead – means the opposition will cede the entire city, Syria’s former commercial capital, to the Assad regime, surrendering the last major urban stronghold where it maintained an active presence.

Rebel-held territory was collapsing rapidly during Monday as pro-regime forces continuously rolled back the frontline in eastern Aleppo. Conditions inside the fast-shrinking rebel enclave were described as “doomsday” by one resident, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reporting the rebels had already withdrawn from all territory on the east bank of the Aleppo river.

The day began with a pro-regime advance into the strategic districts of Sheikh Saeed and Saliheen, preceded by some of the most intense bombardment of the war. The fall of these areas alone meant the rebels had lost control of at least 90% of the territory they held before the regime launched its ground offensive just over two weeks ago.

The Old City of Aleppo, long a bastion of the Syrian opposition, fell into regime hands after the rebels defending it withdrew fearing being cut off after government soldiers and Iranian-backed militia seized the neighbouring districts of Bab al-Hadid and Aqyul. Pro-Assad forces also took parts of Marjeh as opposition ranks were reportedly divided on whether to leave the city or make a last stand.

Pro-government troops moved to within a kilometre of Aleppo’s ancient citadel on Tuesday as rebel-held districts continued to fall. With up to 70% of eastern Aleppo now back in regime hands, there was fierce fighting as rebels lost control of more territory east of the narrow streets which surround the citadel. Regime forces built on momentum generated over a second consecutive weekend of heavy bombardment and rapid advances. On Monday, Russia vetoed a draft UN security council resolution calling for a ceasefire, ensuring its ally in Damascus remained free to build on its advantage.

Rebels lose a third of their territory in two days

Pro-regime forces led by Iraqi Shia militias and Hezbollah seized control of up to one-third of rebel-held eastern Aleppo after another day of rapid advances. Rebel defences appear to have been fatally weakened since pro-regime airstrikes resumed with renewed ferocity nearly two weeks ago.

The capture earlier in the day of the strategic Sakhour district consolidated Sunday’s regime gains into a wedge that effectively cut rebel territory in two. This manoeuvre briefly left open a small corridor through which rebels withdrew to a new frontline farther south, before pro-regime forces moved to occupy the entire northern third of the rebel enclave.

After 12 days of intense preparatory airstrikes, forces supporting the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, launched a major ground assault on rebel-held eastern Aleppo. The attack was concentrated on the northern part of the rebel enclave; pro-regime forces had been consolidating their control north of this frontline since the siege began in late August. Opposition fighters retreated in the face of a regime advance that captured the areas of Jabal Badro and Masaken Hanano, which was the first district taken by rebels in 2012. Thousands of civilians fled to Kurdish and government-held territory.</s>BEIRUT, MOSCOW: The Syrian army broadcast messages into the last rebel enclave of Aleppo on Tuesday, warning that it was poised to enter the area during the day and urging insurgents to speed up their evacuation of the city.

An operation to evacuate civilians and fighters from rebel-held eastern Aleppo has brought out 37,500 people since late last week and the goal is to complete the process by Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

But it is hard to know if that goal is realistic, given the problems that have beset the evacuation plan so far, and the wide variation in estimates of how many had left and how many still remained. The International Committee of the Red Cross put the number evacuated since Thursday at only 25,000.

A rebel official in Turkey told Reuters that even after thousands had left on Monday, only about half of the civilians who wanted to leave had done so.

The insurgents would only leave once all the civilians who wanted to go had departed, the rebel said. The ceasefire and evacuation agreement allows them to carry personal weapons but not heavier arms.

Estimates of the number of people waiting for evacuation range from a few thousand to tens of thousands.

The United Nations said Syria had authorised the world body to send 20 more staff to east Aleppo who would monitor the evacuation.

A UN official said 750 people had been evacuated from the two besieged government villages of Foua and Kefraya, which government forces had insisted must be included in the deal to bring people out of Aleppo.

The evacuations are part of a ceasefire arrangement that ends four years of fighting in Aleppo, once Syria’s most populous city.

Conditions for those being evacuated are grim, with evacuees waiting for convoys of buses in freezing winter temperatures. An aid worker said that some evacuees had reported children had died during the long, cold wait.

In government-held parts of Aleppo, the mood was very different.

A large crowd thronged to a sports hall in the city, waving Syrian flags and dancing to patriotic music, a large portrait of President Bashar Al Assad hanging on one wall, in a celebration of the rebels’ defeat in the city that was broadcast live on state television.

The rebel withdrawal from Aleppo after a series of rapid advances by the army and allied Shiite militias including Hezbollah since late November has brought Al Assad his biggest victory of the nearly six-year-old war.

However, despite the capture of Aleppo and progress against insurgents near Damascus, the fighting is far from over, with large areas remaining in rebel control in the northwestern countryside and in the far south.

The jihadist Daesh also controls swathes of territory in the deserts and the Euphrates river basin in eastern Syria.

The foreign minister of Iran, one of Al Assad’s main backers, said he hoped an overall ceasefire agreement could be reached for Syria.

Speaking at a meeting with the foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey in Moscow to discuss the future of Syria, Mohammad Javad Zarif said there was no military solution for the Syrian conflict, only a political one. Russia and Iran back Al Assad while Turkey has backed some rebel groups.

The talks, aimed at giving fresh impetus for a solution in Aleppo, went ahead despite the killing of Russia’s ambassador to Ankara by a gunman on Monday.

UN Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura intends to convene peace talks in Geneva on February 8.

Al Assad is backed by Russian air power and Shiite militias including Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and Iraq’s Harakat Al Nujaba. The mostly Sunni rebels include groups supported by Turkey, the United States and Gulf monarchies.

For four years, the city was split between a rebel-held eastern sector and the government-held western districts. During the summer, the army and its allies besieged the rebel sector before using intense bombardment and ground assaults to retake it in recent months.</s>BEIRUT, LEBANON (10:40 P.M.) – The jihadist rebels of Fatah Halab and Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham carried out another heinous massacre prior to leaving the last east Aleppo neighborhoods this past week, an SAA officer from the Republican Guard told Al-Masdar News on Friday.

Over 100 hostages from the Syrian Arab Army, mostly young men between the ages of 18-25, were summarily executed by the jihadist rebels prior to their departure from the Sukkari and Bustan Al-Qasr districts of east Aleppo.

“These massacred soldiers were comprised of men that were captured by the jihadist rebels over a four year span in the Aleppo Governorate; they were unable to smuggle their hostages from the Sukkari School, so they chose to execute them instead,” the SAA officer added.

The photos above were released by pro-government journalists reporting from eastern Aleppo – the soldiers have not yet been identified.

Some reports indicate that a large number of the executed soldiers were beheaded before the jihadist rebels left; this could not be verified by Al-Masdar.

The Syrian Arab Army’s High Command demanded the release of these soldiers before the jihadists departed from east Aleppo; however, the latter denied having any hostages.

More details to come…

Advertisements</s>According to two reports coming out of Aleppo today, at least 14 US Coalition military officers were captured this morning in an East Aleppo bunker by Syrian Special Forces.

"The Security Council is sitting in private on Friday, December 16, 2016, at 17:00 GMT, while NATO officers were arrested this morning by the Syrian Special Forces in a bunker in East Aleppo."

"The agreement on evacuating militants and weapons from the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo city has been suspended after terrorist groups breached it, special sources told SANA correspondent in Aleppo. 



 The sources said that the suspension of the agreement will remain in place until obtaining guarantees that oblige the terrorist groups to abide by all the agreement's provisions, stressing on the Syrian side's full adherence to the agreement and its keenness to end the bloodshed and restore security and stability to the entire city of Aleppo." 



 Earlier, SANA reporter said that the terrorist groups have breached the agreement as they smuggled heavy weapons, including TOW missiles, heavy machineguns and kidnapped people via the buses and cars transporting terrorists and their families towards the southwestern countryside of Aleppo city. 



 The reporter added that the terrorist groups fired shells and sniper bullets on the buses and ambulances at al-Ramousseh crossing, noting that the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which are supervising the evacuation process had to withdraw all buses and cars from the crossing. 



 Over the past 24 hours, some 8079 terrorists and members of their families were evacuated on ten batches via busses and ambulances from the neighborhoods of Salah-Eddin, al-Ansari, al-Mashhad and al-Zibdiyeh to the southwest countryside of Aleppo city"

this might also help explain the hysterical behavior by the US State Department and western UN officials who have been demanding "an immediate ceasefire"

This story was quietly leaked by Voltaire.net , who announced,, a prominent Syrian Parliamentarian and head of Aleppo's Chamber of Commerce published the names of the Coalition officers on his Facebook page on the 15th December (emphasis added):In addition to Voltaire.net, the other original report was provided by Damascus-based Syrian journalist Said Hilal Alcharifi . According to Alcharifi, captured "NATO" officers were from a number of member states including the US, France, Germany and Turkey, as well as Israel. Here is his statement (translated from French):Although these initial reports describe the individuals in question as "NATO" officers, it's unlikely they would have been carrying NATO colors on a covert operation - and might be more accurately labeled as US Coalition officers. Note that early reports suggest that these are not standard 'street rebel' or jihadi terrorists but actual Coalition military personnel and field commanders.21WIRE have also received unconfirmed reports yesterday that militants had fired a missile intoarea and then tried, unsuccessfully, to get cars out of East Aleppo.This report from the (emphasis added):If true, then this latest news would also mean thatIf, however, this story is kept under wraps by NATO member governments and summarily blacked out by the US and European media outlets, thenIf today's report from East Aleppo is accurate,- despite the fact that 99% of East Aleppo has already been liberated by Syrian government forces.The western establishment hysterical reactions to Al Nusra's defeat in Aleppo have included wild claims that the Syrian Army had 'unleashed death squads,' on its own residents in East Aleppo and were openly 'executing women and children in the street,' and 'burning children in the street,' as well what appear to be more fictional reports circulated in US media mainly byof The Daily Beast via CNN,claiming that Syrian Army was committing "mass rape" against residents of East Aleppo. His article entitled, " Women in Aleppo Choose Suicide Over Rape, Rebels Report, " made a number of outlandish claims including:Not surprisingly, aside from unnamed "UN sources", Weiss claims to have got his information from none other than the discredited US and UK-financed pseudo 'NGO' known as the Back in September, Prof Michel Chossudovsky wrote:This report was neither admitted, nor was it denied by US Coalition sources at the time. However, one mainstream Israeli source, , did report the incident.For anyone who has been paying close attention to the Syrian Conflict, seeing NATO special forces or "contractors" working with 'rebel' or terrorist fighters inside of Syria is nothing unusual. Numerous reports have been filed of British soldiers assigned to fighting groups to help with training, strategy and logistics. In June 2016, The Telegraph admitted that British special forces were helping one rebel group, "... with logistics, like building defences to make the bunkers safe," said one 'rebel' fighter. Other reports, including the LA Times which detailed CIA operations used to arm militants, including Al Nusra Front (al Qaeda in Syria) who were the terrorist force in charge in East Aleppo. Other revelations of US covert involvement include The New York Times , and also information on US (NATO by another name only) covert operations provided to the Wall Street Journal Throughout fighting in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine, during the period of May 2014 to the present, numerous incidents have been reported where NATO military soldiers and operatives have been both spotted, and captured by rebel forces, and in most cases these reports have been muted, more than likely because of 'horse trading' taking place as an extension of wider diplomacy.</s>Syrian rebel fighters are evacuated from Aleppo towards rebel-held territory in the west of Aleppo's province on December 22, 2016.

Damascus: The Syrian army announced on Thursday that the country’s second city Aleppo has been fully recaptured from rebel fighters, the government’s biggest victory in the nearly six-year civil war.

“Thanks to the blood of our martyrs and the sacrifices of our valiant armed forces as well as allied forces... the general command of the armed forces announces the return of security to Aleppo,” the army said in a statement.

The announcement came shortly after state television reported that the last convoy carrying rebels and civilians had left eastern Aleppo.

Ahmed Qorra Ali, an official with the rebel group Ahrar Al Sham, confirmed that “the last convoy has left the rebel-controlled area”.

Earlier, the Red Cross said that more than 4,000 fighters had left rebel-held areas of the city in the “last stages” of the evacuation.

The United Nations said it had deployed observers to monitor the final evacuations, under a Security Council resolution adopted on Monday.

Rebel forces, who seized control of east Aleppo in 2012, agreed to withdraw from the bastion after a month-long army offensive that drove them from more than 90 percent of their former territory.

The evacuation agreement was brokered by Russia, which launched air strikes in support of Assad’s regime last year, and Turkey, which has supported some rebel groups.</s>ALEPPO, Syria: Syrian troops cemented their hold on Aleppo on Friday after retaking full control of the city, as residents anxious to return to their homes moved through its ruined streets.

Syria’s army announced on Thursday it had recaptured the former rebel stronghold of east Aleppo following a landmark evacuation deal that saw thousands of opposition fighters and residents bussed out.

It was the biggest victory for President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in nearly six years of civil war and a major win for his foreign backers, with key ally Russia hailing the recapture as “very important” step.

Braving the cold, war-weary residents crossed districts that had become infamous front lines, eager to return to neighbourhoods they had not seen in years.

An AFP correspondent saw civilians wrapped in coats trekking through the cold, some rolling their belongings on wheelbarrows.

“I came to check on my house, which I haven’t seen in five years,” resident Khaled al-Masri said. “I really hope my home wasn’t badly damaged.”

The evacuation operation ended more than four years of ferocious fighting inside Aleppo, which had been divided between government forces in the west and rebels in the east.

Opposition forces remain in control of areas west of Aleppo and on Friday at least one civilian was killed in the first wave of rebel rocket fire on the city since it fell under government control, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Eight people were also wounded in the fire on the Al-Hamdaniyeh district, the Britain-based monitor said, while state news agency Sana reported three killed.

The evacuation agreement was brokered by rebel backer Turkey and regime supporter Russia, which said it would strive to end fighting across Syria.

“The liberation of Aleppo from radical elements is a very important part of the normalisation in Syria, and I hope, for the region overall,” President Vladimir Putin said.

“Everything needs to be done for fighting to stop on all Syrian territory,” Putin said. “In any case, we will strive toward this.”

The Kremlin also announced that Putin had signed an order to expand Russia’s naval facility in the Syrian city of Tartus.

On Friday morning, government fighters moved into Ansari and al-Mashhad, two neighbourhoods they had not entered since mid-2012.

They searched for improvised explosive devices and mines, clearing buildings in anticipation of civilians returning, the Observatory said.

In Bustan al-Qasr, a heavily damaged neighbourhood near Aleppo’s famed old city, small bulldozers removed rubble from the streets.

As the army moved through Al-Myassar district, Umm Abdo, 42, said she had found her former home but it had been destroyed. “There’s nothing left... but houses can be rebuilt,” she said.

Syria’s war transformed Aleppo from the country’s industrial hub to a worldwide symbol of bloodshed and devastation.

The army’s statement on Thursday announced “the return of security to Aleppo after its release from terrorism and terrorists, and the departure of those who stayed there”.

Thousands of people in west Aleppo erupted in celebration at the declaration, chanting slogans in support of Assad’s regime amid blaring car horns.

It came after state television said the last convoy of four buses carrying rebels and civilians had left east Aleppo and arrived in the government-controlled Ramussa district south of the city.

The evacuation deal, overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Red Crescent, put an end to a month-long offensive waged on Aleppo’s east by pro-government forces.

The ICRC said the operation had seen 35,000 people bussed out of the last rebel-held pocket of territory in the city.

Syrian army, civilians move into Aleppo streets was posted in World of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on December 24, 2016 and was last updated on December 24, 2016. This news story is related to Print/174118-Syrian-army-civilians-move-into-Aleppo-streets/ - breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. Permanent link to the news story "Syrian army, civilians move into Aleppo streets" is https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/174118-Syrian-army-civilians-move-into-Aleppo-streets.</s>At least one civilian was killed Friday in the first wave of rebel rocket fire on Aleppo since the Syrian city was declared under full government control, a monitoring group said.

Ten rockets hit the southern district of al-Hamdaniyeh, wounding eight other civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syrian state news agency SANA put the toll at three civilians killed and at least six others wounded.

The fire was the first rebel attack since Syria's armed forces announced Aleppo was back under their control following a fierce month-long offensive.

Under a landmark evacuation agreement, about 35,000 people were bussed out of the small pocket of residential districts in Aleppo's east, which had been held by the opposition since mid-2012.

But opposition factions still control territory along the western outskirts of Aleppo, which Abdel Rahman said they were using to fire rockets into the city.

For more than four years, Aleppo had been divided between rebels in the east and forces loyal to President Bashar Assad in the west.

Government troops battered the east with air strikes and artillery fire, while opposition fighters hit the west with rockets and mortars.

Rebels have described the loss of Aleppo as a major blow for the revolt against President Bashar Assad.</s>Syrian troops in Aleppo celebrate as Syrian army formally declares victory.The official Syrian news agency SANA is carrying extracts from the statement declaring victory , which has just been issued by the Syrian armyMeanwhile Syrian President Assad, during a meeting with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, is reported by SANA to have called the Syrian army's victory in AleppoThere are reports that the Syrian troops in Aleppo have been celebrating their victory in the streets in Arab fashions - shooting their guns into the air.The 'Great Battle of Aleppo', which was fought over four long gruelling years, and during which it seemed on more than one occasion that the city would fall under Jihadi control, is over. The Syrian army has won.</s>While the government is now in control of the long contested city of Aleppo, reports of violence from both sides suggest that the battle for what was once a rebel stronghold is not quite over.

An explosion which rocked an east Aleppo neighbourhood early on Saturday killed at least three people, state media said.

A correspondent for Lebanon's Hezbollah-run television station Al-Manar was reporting live from the area when the blast sounded in the background, sending a huge cloud of dust into the air.

The channel later reported the explosion was caused by a device left inside a school by rebels.

The Syrian army is still sweeping the area for bombs and booby traps, a spokesperson said. Rebel artillery fire on al-Hamdaniya neighbourhood on Friday also killed at least three people. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the figure at six, including two children.

The Syrian government has been broadcasting footage of tourists visiting the city’s ancient citadel and celebrating Christmas, keen to show that Aleppo is safe and united again despite the threat of continued rebel shelling.

Some residents who left homes in the eastern half of the city when fighting broke out four years ago have managed to return, state media said.

Meanwhile, activists loyal to the opposition said this week that at least six civilians have been executed by Shia militias, as happened during the regime’s final push to retake the city, although no such incident has been verified by other sources.

The last rebels and civilians who wanted to leave Aleppo were taken to neighbouring rebel-held Idlib province on Thursday after a tense eight-day long process UN spokesperson Farqan Haq described as “traumatic.”

Numbers are difficult to verify, but it is thought that no more than a few hundred people chose to remain in east Aleppo before the government’s forces moved in. It is not clear how many are fighters and how many are civilians.

Idlib, where more than 35,000 people have been moved, has also seen renewed violence, as air strikes on the area resumed on Saturday. Casulties have not yet been reported.

The rural, mostly rebel-held province has been hit nearly as brutally as Aleppo by both Syrian and Russian air strikes in recent months. The UN’s Special Envoy to Syria, Staffan di Mistura, warned this week that it could become “the next Aleppo,” with most observers expecting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to refocus his attention on the area now Aleppo has fallen.

The rebel pullout from the city, which was completed on Thursday, marks President Assad's greatest victory since the conflict began in 2011.
The bodies of over 100 Syrian Army POWs are reportedly found in what was the last rebel held territory of East Aleppo. Syrian Army officers claim they were executed by rebel forces.