Aleppo Fighting Resumes Hours After Cease-Fire Deal
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Thousands of civilians are still in the besieged rebel-held parts of the Syrian city
A cease-fire and evacuation deal for Aleppo collapsed Wednesday as new clashes erupted between Syrian forces and rebels and the regime resumed airstrikes on the dwindling number of opposition-held pockets in the city.
Rebels said late Wednesday that a new deal had been reached with the same terms as the previous agreement, allowing civilians and rebels to evacuate starting Thursday morning. But there was no comment from Syria and it wasn’t clear if the new agreement would hold.
The violence on Wednesday broke out soon after Iranian-backed militia fighters allied with the Syrian regime turned back five buses evacuating people from opposition neighborhoods on Wednesday morning, residents and rebel leaders said.
The initial evacuations were meant to be the first step in the broader implementation of a truce deal brokered by Turkey and Russia that would return the city of Aleppo to full regime control for the first time since 2012. Turkey has backed some rebel groups and Russia is Syria’s main military ally.
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