Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Syrian forces of breaking the deal and called the situation in Aleppo “very fragile”.
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But three hours later, no movement had been reported inside rebel-held territory, and government buses gathering at the edge of the Salaheddin sat idle.
The agreement was a result of talks between Russia, Assad’s main ally, and Turkey, a leading backer of the rebels, a Turkish government official said.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Melvut Cavusoglu, said the Syrian government and its allies were trying to block the ceasefire.
Residents said shells had fallen on the designated road on which the evacuations were supposed to take place.
Under the initial plan, thousands of civilians and rebel fighters were due early Wednesday to evacuate the east of Syria’s second city, scene of some of the worst violence in more than five years of war across the country. “Everyone is hiding and terrified”, activist Mohammad al-Khatib told AFP from inside east Aleppo.
He said Iran-sponsored militias were opening a new front on the eastern side to press the rebels to evacuate.
The deal was announced a month into an army operation to recapture all of Aleppo that has seen the government take more than 90% of the eastern districts rebels had held.
Civilians who were injured from the bombing were unable to be rescued as a result of the heavy shelling, with some trapped under rubble being left to die, he said.
” ‘The military battle is lost, ‘ [Mariton says]”.
Fresh panels have sprung up around Teheran, with one reading: “The fight against the United States has once again paid off. Aleppo is liberated”.
Syrian rebels say Turkey has played a main role in getting Russian Federation to exert pressure on Damascus to abide by the deal after it was delayed on Wednesday and they blamed a surge in shelling on Wednesday on Iranian-backed militias.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said a ceasefire was needed to allow civilians to be evacuated and Ankara would intensify talks in coming days with Russian Federation and other countries, although he said they were already in constant contact.
A large part of the city’s ancient souk, or covered market, has also been destroyed. “Now they have nowhere to stay because the area is overwhelmed with people”.
Expressing shock at the apparent collapse of a deal enabling evacuation of thousands of civilians from eastern Aleppo, the United Nations human right chief said today that the resumption of extremely heavy bombardment by Syrian Government forces and their allies on civilian-populated areas “is nearly certainly a violation of global law and most likely constitutes war crimes”.
It was unclear on Wednesday when residents would be allowed to leave east Aleppo and whether the evacuation deal would hold. This was no different in the final days of the fight to break the government siege, as the aerial and ground bombardment of rebel-held areas intensified in the past few weeks.
Rebels and a source close to the regime told AFP that the evacuation had been suspended after objections from Syria’s government. The guns fell silent late on Tuesday in Aleppo.
Reports of the executions of 82 civilians, including women and children, by pro-government militias, have alarmed rights groups and the global community, as has the destruction and death caused by incessant bombing and a collapse of medical aid.
The U.N.’s human rights office said it has received reports of pro-government forces killing at least 82 civilians in four neighborhoods of the rapidly-shrinking rebel enclave, including 11 women and 13 children. The military said Monday it controlled 99 per cent of the former opposition enclave in Aleppo.
Mohammed Khandaqani, who runs a medical center and is a resident of eastern Aleppo, said his cousin was killed a day earlier and they still can’t locate his body because of the resumption of shelling.
Rebels in Idlib retaliated for the collapse of the deal by targeting two government-controlled villages in the area with rockets.
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In excerpts of the interview aired Wednesday, Assad said western countries pressured Russian Federation for the cease-fire when rebels appeared to be on the verge of losing the territory they have held since 2012.
