Syrians stranded in and around Aleppo as evacuation swap deal halts

Feng Xue
By Feng Xue
April 15, 2017World News
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Thousands of Syrians have been stuck in Aleppo waiting to be evacuated.

This comes after an evacuation deal between the government and the opposition was halted.

The deal allowed pro-government fighters and residents from two Shiite villages to evacuate in exchange for Sunni rebels and their families leaving two towns near Damascus.

However, the evacuation appears to have stopped, according to a war monitor and activists.

As of April 15, buses carrying Sunni rebels and their families are waiting in government-held Aleppo. They are headed for Idlib Province, where other insurgents are. The Shiite villagers are waiting in a rebel-held territory at the outskirts of Aleppo, waiting to enter the city.

The delay in the swap was cause when rebels from Zabadani, had not yet been granted safe passage out, said the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The evacuation agreement is latest of several in recent months that has seen President Bashar al-Assad’s government take back control of areas long besieged by his forces and their allies.

 

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