End Of Aleppo Ceasefire Scuppers Civilian Evacuation

A ceasefire deal between rebels and the Syrian government in the city of Aleppo has broken down, threatening plans to evacuate the remaining fighters and tens of thousands of civilians.

The withdrawal was supposed to start at dawn, but shelling resumed this morning.

Therefore, buses meant for the evacuations, which were waiting at the rendezvous point on the edge of the rebel enclave, returned to their depots.

Activists and rebels trapped in the opposition's last sliver of territory in Aleppo said pro-government forces had struck their district with dozens of rockets since mid-morning. Ibrahim al-Haj, a spokesman for the Syrian Civil Defence first responders said:

"The bombardment is scarcely to be believed on the eastern neighbourhoods and until now 40 people have been wounded... They are using all forms of weapons".

The Syrian government ordered its green-coloured buses back, signalling that the deal mediated between Ankara and Moscow on Tuesday night to bring the fighting to an end in Aleppo was off.

Syrian government troops, here in Palmyra (image: Jawad Shaar)

The Lebanese al-Manar TV broadcast footage of the buses leaving the evacuation point empty and said government forces had resumed fighting with rebels in the city.

Al-Manar is the media arm of the Lebanese militant Shiite group Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad's government forces.

Activists in eastern Aleppo blamed government forces, saying they shot first.

Media activist Mahmoud Raslan said he was reporting for a Turkish agency when a rocket crashed beside him at around 10:15am local time.

The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement that the rebels "resumed the hostilities" at dawn, trying to break through Syrian government positions to the north-west.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the Syrian government and its allies of trying to scuttle the deal. In remarks quoted by the state-run Anadolu Agency, he said:

"We see now that the regime and other groups are trying to obstruct this (deal). This includes Russia, Iran, forces supported by Iran and the regime".

The surrender of Aleppo's remaining opposition-run neighbourhoods to government control would be a defining moment in Syria's civil war.

A Free Syrian Army rebel sniper in Aleppo, 2012 (image: Freedom House)

The last-minute deal was mediated by Ankara and Moscow as the rebel enclave rapidly dissolved and ceded more and more territory in the face of the brutal advance by Syrian forces, backed by Russia and assisted by Shiite militias from Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Late on Tuesday, the UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, called for immediate access to the former rebel enclave to confirm the end of military operations and to oversee the safe departure of tens of thousands of civilians and opposition fighters.

Mr de Mistura was at the Security Council where an emergency meeting for Aleppo was held.

Earlier on Wednesday, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV broadcast footage of the government buses idling at the agreed-on evacuation point.

The TV said the buses are prepared to move 5,000 fighters and their families to Atareb, an opposition-held town in the north-western Aleppo countryside.

Meanwhile, an opposition official said that there were 800 sick and wounded people requiring immediate medical evacuation from eastern Aleppo.

Brita Haj Hassan, a Syrian opposition official living in exile, said from Luxembourg that the UN and others had informed the opposition that the evacuation had been delayed until Thursday.

Free Syrian Army rebels (image: Freedom House)

However, there was no comment from the government, the United Nations or aid groups on the ground.

The dramatic developments surrounding Aleppo - which would restore the remainder of what was once Syria's largest city to President Assad's forces after months of heavy fighting and a crippling siege - followed reports of mass killings by government forces closing in on the final few blocks still held by the rebels.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the emergency meeting late on Tuesday that he had received "credible reports" of civilians killed by pro-government forces as they swept into the last rebel areas in Aleppo. US Ambassador Samantha Power said:

"To the Assad regime, Russia and Iran - three member states behind the conquest of and carnage in Aleppo - you bear responsibility for these atrocities".

Bashar al-Ja'afari, Syria's UN ambassador, denied any mass killings or revenge attacks, but added it was Syria's "constitutional right" to go after "terrorists", a reference to all opposition fighters. He said:

"Aleppo has been liberated from terrorists and those who toyed with terrorism. Aleppo has returned to the nation."

Syrian President Bashar Assad later said that western countries are seeking a ceasefire in Aleppo in order to save "the terrorists".

President Assad spoke to the Russia Today channel in excerpts of an interview aired on Wednesday.

Mr Assad said the ceasefire was to stop his government's advance in the city and "keep the terrorists and save them".

He also said the capture of the ancient city of Palmyra by Islamic State militants was to "distract" from the Aleppo offensive.

Cover image: A Free Syrian Army fighter in Aleppo in 2012 (a.anis)

MORE: 'Aleppo "Ceasefire" Sees New Fighting'
MORE: ''Aleppo Can't Become Another Srebrenica''